


Gokusen: The Novel

by Jane Elliot (JaneElliot)



Category: Gokusen - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gokusen Manga, Novelization, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-16 18:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 111,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneElliot/pseuds/Jane%20Elliot
Summary: A novelization of the Gokusen manga, including extended and missing scenes.





	1. Welcome to Shirokin

**Author's Note:**

> Note on timeline: Gokusen the manga ran from 2000-2007 and appears, based on technology, to be set a few years earlier. For the purposes of this story, all you need to know is that this story is set before the 2010 law making public schools free in Japan, and before cellphones (and the internet) became universally available.
> 
> Huge props to CappuccettoRosso, who is serving as alpha-reader, beta, and all-around Japanese culture guru. This story would not be possible without her help!

In retrospect, Yamiguchi Kumiko had to admit that her appointment to Shirokin had been a strategic move by Principal Shirokawa. Apparently, that perverted old baldie could be clever in his efforts to save his school.

Of course, she didn’t know anything of the Principal’s machinations at the time. All she’d known then was that her assignment came much later than she expected – only a day before school started – and when she opened the letter she found that she was being assigned to an all-male school with a reputation for violent, delinquent youth.

She frowned as she set the letter aside and, for a long moment, silence reigned.

“Well?” Grandpa asked and Kumiko looked up to see Tetsu and Minoru leaning so far forward in anticipation that they were in danger of falling on their faces. Grandpa sat straight and tall, as usual, but the very fact that he spoke first betrayed his impatience.

“I’ve been assigned to Shirokin Senior High School. Class 2-4. School starts tomorrow. I’m supposed to bring training gear.”

Everyone exchanged glances. “Training gear?” Tetsu repeated dubiously.

That _was_ odd, but Kumiko was still stuck on the school itself. “Do you think they know about the kumi?”

Grandpa shook his head immediately. “If they did, you would have heard about it by now. Besides, they can’t punish you for your family. You’ve never been a part of the yakuza.”

Kumiko glanced around the room – at the family name emblazoned on the windows, at the spotlit katana rack, at Tetsu and Minoru’s beloved but undeniably disreputable faces – and questioned whether human resources would agree with Grandpa’s distinction.

“It’s no problem, Ojou,” Minoru offered. “Just act like a Normal. They’ll never know.”

“You’re right!” Kumiko said, the truth of Minoru’s statement causing her to jump to her feet with newfound confidence. All she had to do was act like a Straight and the school – and her students – would never know that she had a yakuza background.

Of course, this meant she had to act like a Normal, no matter how badly the boys behaved, but she wasn’t worried. Thanks to a steady trickle of shatei over the years, she’d lost anything resembling fear when it came to teenage punks. Hell, the kids in her class probably wouldn’t even be armed. Piece of cake.

Thus, it was with confidence and enthusiasm – she was about to meet _her_ students for the very first time, helping to guide them on the brilliant path to personal growth and mathematical conquest – that she set off for her first day at school. She had taken extra time on her clothing, choosing a plaid summer dress and blazer that were the perfect camouflage. No one wearing plaid could ever be anything but Normal.

It was half an hour’s drive from home to the school, and she kept her spirits high by singing inspirational songs. Unfortunately, even Kumiko’s boundless good humor was a bit dented by her first impression of Shirokin Senior High School. It was a giant cement block, lined with floodlights and dotted with pockets of lackluster landscaping that was losing the war with encroaching weeds. The overall effect was very prison-esque.

Kumiko’s second blow came just moments after entering the building. A _second_ female teacher was assigned to the school, this one with blonde hair and the biggest rack Kumiko had ever seen. This was most definitely not what she had expected on her arrival.

The second woman introduced herself as Fujiyama Shizuka, the music teacher. While Kumiko processed the idea of a full-time music teacher in a high school, they found the principal’s office and were immediately confronted with an old, bald man who was panting heavily and in the middle of stripping off his old-fashioned suit under the watchful eye of a sweaty guy in a track-suit. Kumiko couldn’t tell what was going on, but it _definitely_ wasn’t Normal.

She was about to step in front of Fujiyama and take care of this perverted threat when the baldie started pulling clothing back on while rhapsodizing about Shirokin’s students and their need for love. As hard as it was to believe, this perverted baldie was the Principal of the school! Clearly “Normal” had a different definition at Shirokin.

Feeling more confident about her ability to blend in, Kumiko watched the Principal – now decked out in a ragged suit – head out to plead the case of a Shirokin student who had been arrested, before turning back to Head Teacher Iwamoto, who looked like someone who played American football for fun. 

“Forget everything you just heard,” Iwamoto said. “These kids are monsters. God knows what the Principal was thinking bringing young women into this place. You’re going to be eaten alive.”

Kumiko exchanged an indignant glance with Fujiyama.

“Oh well,” he continued. “Nothing to do now but deal with it as best we can.” He stabbed a finger in the direction of Fujiyama’s stylish suit. “What are you thinking, wearing a mini-skirt to school?” The finger stabbed again, this time at Kumiko’s feet. “And those slippers have to go! You can’t run away while wearing slippers! You both need to change into your training gear before class starts. That includes rubber-soled shoes like these.” He pulled off one of his shoes and waved it at the women before holding it up to his face and taking a big whiff.

So. Not. Normal.

“Other rules you need to follow,” Iwamoto said, thankfully pulling his shoe back on. “Never go out in the hallways alone. Pairs are acceptable, though more is better. And if the atmosphere in your room gets ugly, be prepared to leave. Just don’t turn your back. They can smell fear.”

He whipped out a couple sheets of paper. “Here, I’ve made a list of the troublemakers in your classes.”

Kumiko glanced over the list of names. Her homeroom was small – only 25 students – and there were 21 names on the list. Glancing over, she saw that Fujiyama’s list was nearly as long.

Fujiyama merely glanced at her list before hefting her gym bag. “Where is the women’s bathroom?” she asked.

Iwamoto opened his mouth and stalled. “Huh. I didn’t think of that.”

By the time a bathroom near the teacher’s lounge was hastily redesignated as women-only and Kumiko and Fujiyama had gotten dressed, it was almost time for class. As they walked toward their classrooms Fujiyama commented, “These teachers seem as dodgy as the students. Are you going to be all right? I mean, you’re just out of university and, honestly, you seem a bit straight-laced for a place like this.”

Kumiko beamed. “Thank you! And, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll do my best!” Before Fujiyama could ask anything else, Kumiko quickly added, “You came from a well-respected junior high, right? Why the change?”

Fujiyama shrugged. “Junior high kids are still kids. I like being around boys that are a little more grown up.”

“…uh. Okay.”

Fujiyama snickered. “You pervert. I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant they’re more _mature_.”

 _Riiiight_ , Kumiko thought, but she kept her mouth shut as they parted ways at the split in the hallway. As she got closer to her classroom, she was surprised at how quiet it was. Clearly Iwamoto had been unduly pessimistic.

Pausing briefly at the door, Kumiko took a deep breath, gearing herself up to meet her students, whose minds she would mold as they took the last few steps to adult independence. A brief fantasy played in her mind, of 25 young men standing up and cheering with enthusiasm at the sight of the woman who would help them navigate the treacherous waters of mathematics. Admittedly, that fantasy might be a bit over the top, but surely they would at least be curious and excited to meet a new teacher.

Thus it was a woman full of eager anticipation who opened her classroom door… only to find a room with only two students in it: one who already looked half asleep and the other in the midst of what appeared to be some sort of psychological breakdown.

Kumiko sighed, quickly evaluated the muttering student as weird but essentially harmless, and turned to the other kid. He was tall for his age, reasonably attractive except for his dyed red hair, and could not have projected boredom more effectively if he had actually been asleep. Of course, he was physically present in the room, which got him some points in her book. “Where are the other students?” she asked.

“Went to go look at the teacher for 2-2,” the boy answered, not bothering to remove his head from where it was pillowed on his hand. 

“Right.” Well, it wasn’t exactly surprising, especially if some of the students had seen what Fujiyama was wearing when she first arrived.

Even as she had that thought, she heard voices approaching the room, universally bemoaning the fact that Fujiyama was now wearing training gear rather than her original mini-skirt. Kumiko pasted on a grin and greeted the new arrivals with her sweetest, “Welcome back!”

Immediately the incoming students broke out into a flurry of fledgling attempts at intimidation. Boys got right up in Kumiko’s face, giving her the finger and calling her a Straight – hey, her disguise was _working_ – and one heavy-set kid jumped up on her desk putting his knees a hair’s breadth from her chest and his face so close she had to cross her eyes to see him. “Boo!” he shouted.

It took Kumiko a second to realize that this was probably meant to scare her. “Ah!” she said, trying to sound girly. The boy didn’t look impressed, so she added, “What a shock!”

The class burst into laughter, apparently assuming that she was too stupid to be properly scared, as if fear was an intelligent result to a bunch of boys acting like baboons during mating season.

The boy in the back of the room said calmly, “Kuma. Cut it out.”

The room immediately went silent as everyone looked back. “Shin?” a boy with slicked-back hair said. “You’re here?”

Everyone immediately gravitated to the desk in the back where the red-haired kid, apparently Shin, continued to look utterly bored.

 _What an interesting power dynamic_ , Kumiko thought, then took advantage of the quiet to introduce herself. “I’m fresh out of university this year,” she added. “You’re my first students and… and no one’s listening.”

Well, that was all right. She’d come prepared with a quick questionnaire for the students to fill out. According to her Education classes, it would help her get to know her students better and help get the class engaged on their first day of school. Maybe it would have worked, if the students had actually completed them. Instead, she got another round of posturing and Shin’s eyelids drooped even lower.

Undeterred, Kumiko turned to write her name on the board to demonstrate how the form was meant to be filled out. Unfortunately, this required her to break one of Iwamoto’s rules: she turned her back on her class. She was still writing her name when paper airplanes appeared in her peripheral vision and by the time she got to her age and relationship status, the boys were apparently making a game of trying to hit her in the butt with balls of crumpled paper.

Kumiko dropped her head and sighed. Clearly comparing these guys to yakuza initiates was an offense to the initiates. Even a shatei had more brains than this group.

Suddenly she felt a wave of psychotic animosity emanating from the hollow-cheeked kid who had been having a breakdown earlier. She heard a startled “hey, don’t—” and yanked her head to the side, reaching up to snatch a hard metal object out of the air.

For a moment she just stood there, assessing the situation. The ball felt like a pachinko ball – probably not lethal, but definitely hard enough to cause serious damage if it had hit her in the back of the head.

She looked over her shoulder and glared at the hollow-cheeked boy. He was sweating like a pig, looking fully aware for the first time. Oh, yeah. He knew what he’d done. Kumiko wasn’t about to forgive such—

Abruptly she realized that the entire room had gone completely silent. She widened her field of vision and saw that every boy in the room was staring at her, mouths agape. Shit.

Kumiko forced her body to relax as she looked down at her hand. “Oh!” she said, playing up the girly act. “This is a pachinko ball! Who threw this? It could be dangerous!”

The tension in the room broke as the boys started laughing about Kumiko’s fluke of a catch. Most of them seemed to have bought her act, though the hollow-cheeked boy looked both relieved and still a tiny bit terrified – _good_ – and Shin looked suspicious. She figured she could count on Shin’s boredom to take over soon, however, and it was clear that no one else was a threat to her cover.

 _Okay_ , Kumiko thought, turning back to the board to finish writing her questionnaire sample. _Okay, I can do this. No one will ever suspect that I’m anything other than a Normal teacher._

And, with that cheery thought, she endured the rest of the day. No one else threw anything more dangerous than a spitball, one or two students actually filled out the questionnaire, and she managed to get the boys to clean the room by the simple expedient of planting herself in the doorway and refusing to move until the room was clean. 

Overall, not bad for her very first day of teaching.

She was thinking about what she might do differently in day two when she ran into her fellow female teacher on one of the outdoor walkways, having a cigarette. “Hi Fujiyama‑sensei. How was class 2-2?”

Fujiyama breathed out a stream of smoke. “There were three… no, two.”

“Two? Two what?”

“Two students I’d sleep with.”

Kumiko choked. “I meant… how was your class? Did they behave?”

Fujiyama snorted. “Please. They did nothing but gamble and start fights.”

Well, that was something. If Fujiyama, who already had at least one year of teaching under her belt, couldn’t control her class, then Kumiko wasn’t doing too badly.

Feeling much better about her first day, Kumiko was about to say her farewells when Fujiyama added, “Do you think this school has a lot of stocky guys?”

Kumiko stared at her. “Uh. No? There’s none in my class.” Well, except maybe Kuma, but Kuma was hers now and she wasn’t going to say anything that might make a pretty woman think less of him.

Fujiyama gaped at her. “Of course there are! You have more stocky guys in your class than I have in mine!”

 _If you already knew the answer, why did you ask?_ Kumiko thought irritably. She would never understand women.

As they walked downstairs together, Fujiyama asked Kumiko where she lived. Without thinking, Kumiko told her the name of her neighborhood and Fujiyama gaped. “That’s an hour away. Why don’t you rent a room around here?”

Kumiko paused for a moment. It had never occurred to her to move closer to the school. The very idea of leaving her family behind… “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” she said. Fujiyama looked skeptical, so Kumiko quickly added, “I mean, my gr—er, my father is… alone, so I couldn’t… Besides, it’s only half an hour by car, so…”

Thankfully, Fujiyama bought it. “You’re such a good girl. Anyway, my car’s over here. See you tomorrow!”

Kumiko watched her go with an overwhelming sense of relief. This whole lying business was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be. And, damn it, she’d have to do it all over again tomorrow. Maybe she should spend some time tonight coming up with some more detail about her cover. It hadn’t occurred to her that anyone would be asking such personal questions on her very first day.

A laconic drawl from the walkway above her pulled her out of her thoughts. “That woman… the rookie teacher.” Hm. That was Sawada Shin’s voice. Kumiko listened harder. Sawada was clearly the leader of 2-4 – if she could get him on her side, that would help get the whole class on board.

Kuma’s voice asked, “What about her, Shin?”

“There’s something off about her.”

 _Shit_ , Kumiko thought with wide eyes. She was _definitely_ going to have to work on her cover when she went home.

“What, that four-eyed monkey?” Kuma asked. “She’s a dumbass.”

Kumiko looked up in indignation. _Dumb_? They were calling _her_ dumb?

Another voice broke in. It belonged to the kid with the slicked back hair. Minami. “She was shitting herself when Kuma jumped on her desk.”

Kumiko slapped a hand over her mouth and hurried to her car. Only when she was safely inside did she allow herself to burst out laughing. Shitting herself? Really? Over that bunch of posturing baboons?

She giggled all the way home. As she made her way indoors, she found Wakamatsu and one of his men – as well as Tetsu and Minoru, of course – in the ima. It looked like they were talking business, but the moment she walked in she was greeted with happy cries of “Ojou!” and “Welcome back” from the burly, heavily armed men.

Her whole body relaxed at the sight and she grinned. It was so good to be home.

“How was your first day?” Wakamatsu asked.

Kumiko rolled her eyes. “Everyone called me ‘bitch’, no one called me ‘sensei’, and at least half the class threatened to hurt me.”

Minoru and Wakamatsu’s man both exclaimed in shock and horror. Tetsu had a gun in hand before she finished speaking. “Want me to teach them some manners?” he asked, killing intent pouring off his body in waves.

“No!” Kumiko yelped. “Put that away! They’re just teenagers. I can handle teenagers.”

Thankfully everyone could see the truth in that statement and she was able to give them a rundown. She left out the pachinko ball thrown by Kubo; sharing that seemed like a good way to lose a student before she had a chance to help him improve.

After a few minutes she announced her intention to see Grandpa and left the men to talk business. As usual, they waited until she shut the screen behind her before talking. Living in a yakuza household for most of her life, she couldn’t be unaware of what their family business entailed, but that didn’t stop everyone from trying to shield her from the details. It was one of the reasons why she had decided to go into teaching, though other reasons had been more important.

Grandpa’s room was on the other end of the courtyard and the usual bodyguard was out front. Kumiko called out, “Grandpa, I’m home.”

Grandpa’s warm, gruff voice answered, “Kumiko, come in.”

She slid the screen open to see Grandpa dismissing his masseuse. “How was school?” he asked as he slid his kimono up over the beautiful tattoo that covered his back.

“It’s a rough bunch,” she admitted. “I’m going to have to be careful with how I handle them.”

Grandpa grabbed the katana he kept nearby at all times. “I guess I should—”

“They’re fine!” Kumiko said hastily. “You don’t need to get rid of them.”

Grandpa’s killing aura faded and he set the sword aside. “I’m sure you’ll be able handle them. You’ve certainly got all of us tamed.” He sighed. “It’s official now. You’re a teacher.” He smiled sadly and turned away. “I guess I always thought you’d someday take over the kumi, even though you’re a woman. Looks like the Kuroda line will end with me.”

Kumiko’s eyes welled up. “Grandpa…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” a beloved voice said. “Your grandfather brags to us all the time about you becoming a teacher.”

Kumiko’s incipient tears evaporated without a trace as she beamed at Shinohara Tomoya, captivated as usual by his beautiful smile and handsome features. She barely noticed when her Grandpa snapped, “Hey now, what happened to lawyer-client confidentiality?”

Shinohara’s smile sharpened into a knowing grin and Kumiko nearly melted into a puddle. “Sorry, boss,” he said, getting up. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to take care of that incident we were talking about.”

Kumiko jumped to her feet. “I’ll walk you out!”

As they made their way to the front of the house, Kumiko grasped about for something to say. They were almost out of the courtyard before she thought to ask, “What incident?”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about now. You should focus on being a teacher. After all, it’s what you’ve been dreaming about, isn’t it?” He slid on a pair of sunglasses, the epitome of cool. “I’ll see you around.”

Kumiko watched him go with a pang in her chest. Behind her, falsetto voices suddenly broke out:

“Oh, Shinohara, wait for me!”

“Come with me, Kumiko, you darling, silly girl!”

Kumiko turned to see Tetsu and Minoru caught up in a mock embrace and her eyebrow twitched. “You assholes!” Completely distracted from her pining, she tackled her two best friends. She’d show them who was boss.


	2. Sawada Shin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to CappuccettoRosso, who continues to be a rock star:)

Shin didn’t think his friends had ever noticed it, but he never skipped the first day of school.  After all, more than any other day, the first day of school had the potential for something _unexpected_.  Something the opposite of _boring_.

His mother had said more than once that Shin was too young to be world-weary, but when everyone and everything behaved exactly the way that Shin expected, it was hard to get very excited about life.  These days, the only thing he had to live for was the occasional moment of anticipation for something new, and the odds of something new were always highest on the first day of school.

This year things got off to a very promising start.  Shin barely stepped in the building before someone came up to him to announce breathlessly, “There are _girl_ teachers this year.  And one’s wearing a mini-skirt!”

The mini-skirt wasn’t of much interest as Shin had had a lot of girls in short skirts try to talk to him in the last year or two, and he’d found them all to be shallow and boring.  Female teachers at an all-boys school was more novel and, considering the reputation of Shirokin, Shin found himself intrigued.

Sitting in homeroom waiting for the teacher sapped some of his interest, however, as nearly everyone had gone to check out the new teacher with questionable fashion sense.  According to Noda, said teacher also had “enormous tits”, which was unexpected, but not interesting enough to drag Shin away from his desk.  Anyway, he’d see her eventually as music had inexplicably been added to everyone’s curriculum for the year.

All of which meant he was stuck in a classroom empty of everyone except Kubo, who had apparently spent his spring vacation upping his drug intake.  Kubo had deteriorated in the last year, but he hadn’t looked nearly this gaunt and broken in March.

Shin sighed.  Kubo was a problem that no one had a solution for.  Shin and some other guys had tried to confront Kubo last year about drugs, but Kubo claimed he wasn’t taking anything and nothing Shin said could get him to change his story.  Anyway, it wasn’t his problem.  He didn’t actually know the guy all that well, and Kubo got randomly violent at times, making intervention risky.

The door to the classroom opened, distracting Shin from the Kubo problem.  He looked up to see a plain woman wearing a track-suit and pigtails.  Must be the new math teacher.  She looked like she was right out of college and already out of her depth when confronted with a near-empty room.

What a let down.

“Where are the other students?” she asked.

Shin considered not answering, but decided it was way too early in the morning to fight with the new teacher.  “Went to go look at the teacher for 2-2.”

“Right.”  She paused, looking lost.  Shin leaned a little more heavily on his elbow and contemplated taking a nap.

At that moment the rest of the class arrived, full of complaints.  From what Shin could tell, the new music teacher had also changed into a track-suit.  Undoubtedly Iwamoto’s influence.

The new math teacher beamed at the new arrivals.  “Welcome back!”

Everyone immediately started living up to every Shirokin stereotype: threatening to hurt the teacher, cursing at her, getting in her face.  Shin rolled his eyes and debated the merits of sneaking out in the confusion.

Then Kuma jumped on the teacher’s desk and shouted, “Boo!”

The teacher paused for a second before shrieking, “Ah!  What a shock!”

Shin’s eyes narrowed.  What was with that pause?

The class started laughing at their dumb new teacher, but Shin didn’t think she looked dumb and she definitely didn’t look scared.  “Kuma,” he called out.  “Cut it out.”

He watched the new teacher rather than Kuma, which was the only reason he caught the calculating expression that flickered across her face before the girly mask slipped back into place.

Before Shin could even guess at what that expression meant, Kuma said, “Shin?  You’re here?” as if Kuma hadn’t been present at every single first day of school that Shin had attended for the last decade.

Thankfully, the new teacher spoke before Shin had to come up with something to say.  “I’m fresh out of university this year.  You’re my first students and… and no one’s listening.”

Well, Shin had to give her points for her willingness to face reality.  Of course, he had to take the points away immediately when she passed out a _questionnaire_ for them to fill out.  Shin took his with a snort and immediately handed it off to Minami, who used it to make a paper airplane.

The moment her back was turned – and that was a bit surprising, because Shin was sure Iwamoto told all of the new teachers to never turn their back on the class, which meant the blackboards were almost never used – the class started launching their questionnaires back to her in the form of paper airplanes and crumpled paper balls.  Shin decided it would take too much energy to throw anything and instead glanced at the board, finally getting the teacher’s name: Yamaguchi Kumiko.  Then she added her age (23) and her relationship status (single – not surprising) and Shin decided that the two weird moments before were just flukes.

Though Shin had to give her credit: she was staying impressively calm as the class pelted her with her own questionnaires.

That might have been that, if Kubo hadn’t suddenly stood up and hurled something small and metallic at Yamaguchi.  Shin’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to call out a belated warning only to see that… she’d _caught it_.  Her head was slanted to one side and her right hand was where her head had been, curled in a fist.

There was a stunned silence.

Yamaguchi looked back over her shoulder with a lethal expression that made Kubo squeak and a soft gasp fill the room.

And then, as if a mask had been pulled down over her face, Yamaguchi’s eyes widened and she glanced at her hand with an astonished expression.  “Oh!  This is a pachinko ball!  Who threw this?  It could be dangerous!”

For a moment it looked like her act wouldn’t work, but then everyone except for Kubo and Shin started laughing.  Kubo looked terrified and Shin… well, Shin was definitely intrigued.

And then… _nothing_.  Not one damn thing.  For the next week, the only interesting thing Yamaguchi did was plant herself in the doorway and refuse to move each afternoon until the classroom was clean.  Shin had to admire her utter lack of fear as his classmates pretended to rush her and he had to admit, her perseverance paid off in the cleanest classroom in the school.

On the other hand, while a persistent teacher was rare, they weren’t unheard of and Shin’s interest faded as the days passed and Yamaguchi continued to be relentlessly ordinary.  By Thursday afternoon, he was seriously considering skipping Friday.  When Noda started showing off a picture of a large naked blonde woman and sharing his plans to paste Yamaguchi’s head on top, Shin decided that it was a perfect time to take a three day weekend.

He slept in late on Friday, just waking up when the phone rang.  Minami was on the other end, begging him to come back to the school.  It was hard to follow exactly what Minami was saying, but it sounded like an emergency.  Shin groaned, but got up and dug out his uniform.

By the time he found Minami at the school, it was too late – Kuma had already been grabbed by third years intent on beating him up.  Shin swore under his breath – Kudou must be back, it was the only explanation – and went running to the back of the gym.

They found Kuma lying in a heap on the ground, unconscious.  Fortunately, he woke up quickly, which surprised Shin – usually when Kudou’s gang grabbed someone, that person ended up in the hospital.

Even more surprising was when Kuma looked up and said, “Wait!  Where’s what’s-her-name?  Where’s Yankumi?”

It took Shin a second to realize who he meant.  “Yamaguchi was here?” he asked, a sinking feeling in his chest.  A woman getting taken by Kudou’s gang – that could only turn out badly.

Even Kuma seemed aware of the situation.  “Yeah.  She just happened to be wandering by, returning some balls.”  He let out a shaky breath.  “By now, she’s probably—”

“What the fuck?”

Everyone looked up at Ucchi, who was staring around the corner of the building.  “Shin, you’ve got to come see this,” he added.

Shin glanced at Kuma, who nodded that he was okay, then got up to see what the fuss was about.  His eyes widened as he took in the pile of bodies.  Kudou was in the pile, along with several third years who were part of Kudou’s gang.

Cautiously, Shin went forward and felt for a pulse on the body on top.  He let out a sigh of relief when he found the pulse strong and steady.  Just unconscious, then.  But how?  There were no marks on the guy’s face and Shin didn’t see any blood.

Frowning, Shin patted the body down.  There was a warm patch on the guy’s stomach and Shin yanked up the boy’s shirt, revealing a large bruise that was already starting to turn purple.

“Knocked out with one blow to the stomach,” Shin murmured to himself.

“Holy shit,” Minami said, apparently overhearing.  “Who did that?”

Shin considered for several seconds, but according to Kuma, there was only one other person present.  “Yamaguchi?”

Minami snorted.  “Yankumi?”

“Not in a million years,” Ucchi said.

Shin didn’t bother to contradict them, but his brain was working overtime.  Whatever was going on here, one thing was for sure: Yamaguchi was far more interesting than Shin had realized.


	3. Teacher Evaluation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to my wonderful beta, CappuccettoRosso!

Chapter 3: Teacher Evaluation

After a couple of weeks, Kumiko started to feel like she was finding her place at Shirokin.  Aside from a little backsliding expected of teenage boys – for example, Kuma hitting her for no good reason the day after she saved him from Kudou’s gang – her homeroom class had come to accept her as one of their own, which meant no more paper fights, somewhat less backtalk, and even, on the very rare occasion, students paying attention in math class.

Of course, all of that aggression had to go somewhere, which meant more fights in the classrooms.  This provided a reasonable amount of entertainment, and gave her the chance to explain the difference between a perfectly acceptable one-on-one fist fight, and a cowardly armed attack on an unarmed man.

Yes, life was good, which meant she should have known something would go wrong.  ‘Something’ in this case was a letter given to her by Principal Shirokawa.  “I think you must be the first this year,” he said cheerfully.

Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Kumiko opened the letter to find the date and time of her new teacher evaluation.  “This is the day after tomorrow!”

“Yes, they don’t like to give much warning,” the Principal said with a placid nod.  “You’ll do your best, I’m sure.”

Kumiko throttled an overwhelming urge to knock the Principal upside the head and left to try and come up with some sort of plan to transform her class overnight.

Unfortunately, Kumiko had never been very good at strategy.  Short term battle tactics?  A breeze.  Give her ten guys and nothing but her wits, and she’d instantly see how to mow through them like a scythe through wheat.  Give her a day to come up with a plan, on the other hand, and she immediately found herself scrambling for an idea.  Any idea.

“Maybe I could write a script,” she said to the room at large, which consisted of Tetsu and Minoru.

“That’s a great idea, Ojou,” Minoru said.

“What’s a great idea?” Shinohara asked as he stepped into the room.

Kumiko immediately forgot about her worries as Shinohara overwhelmed her senses.  “Hi!” she exclaimed.

He smiled wryly.  “Hello.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Just discussing some business with your grandfather.”  He settled at the chabudai next to Kumiko.  “What’s a great idea?”

Kumiko stared at him dreamily for a moment before the question registered.  “Oh!  I’m getting evaluated the day after tomorrow.  I was thinking I could write a script for the students to make them seem more…” Kumiko frowned, trying to come up with a word that didn’t make her students sound like idiots, “studious.”

Shinohara raised his eyebrows.  “Do you think your students would go along with that?”

Kumiko opened her mouth… and then closed it again.  “Probably not.”  She frowned in thought.  “What if I gave them a list of questions I would ask and also provide answers?”

Shinohara’s lips quirked.  “That might look a little staged.”

She sighed and slumped.  “I guess so.”

“Why not just teach the same class tomorrow as you’re going to teach the day after?  Even if your students aren’t very studious, they will learn something in the process, which will help during the evaluation.”

It was as if the sun had come from behind the clouds: the perfect solution.  “That’s a great idea!”  She jumped to her feet.  “Thank you, Shinohara-sensei,” she said running to get some paper.  She had a lesson to plan!

~~~

Kumiko stayed up late working on her lesson plan and by the time she got into the classroom the next morning, there was a fight in progress.  “Ooo,” she said sliding to the front of the watching crowd.  “Come on, Sonomura!” she cheered.  Sonomura usually lost his fights; she figured he could do with a bit of encouragement.

Sure enough, after another minute or so, Sonomura went down hard.  Kumiko sighed and wondered if she could get away with teaching these guys how to fight.  Clearly they weren’t getting better on their own.

Then Sonomura stood back up and pulled out a knife, erasing most of Kumiko’s positive thoughts about him.  “Whoa!  Stop right there.  Time for class.”

Just to be on the safe side, she got between the two fighters.  Good thing she did, too, as Sonomura’s blood was high and he shouted at her to get out of his way, brandishing his knife.  Moving in close to hide her action with her body, she grabbed his knife hand and squeezed down hard.  “Time to put this away,” she said under her breath.  Shock filled his face as the knife slipped out of suddenly numb fingers.

Figuring she’d made her point and running short on time, Kumiko ordered everyone to put their desks back where they belonged and started her lesson.

Everyone paid the usual amount of attention – that is to say, next to none – so Kumiko ended up asking five times if they understood everything and then pleaded with them to study that night.  Apparently there was a limit to even a Shirokin student’s thickness, because one of the boys finally asked, “What’s going on?”

Kumiko hesitated.  It was never a good idea to show weakness.  But it wasn’t as if they weren’t going to see the evaluation committee, so she said, “I’m getting evaluated tomorrow.”

One of the boys laughed.  “I almost forgot you were a first year.”

Rather touched by that, Kumiko explained the rest of her plan: “We’ll be covering this same lesson tomorrow.”  Taking a risk, she added, “So please behave yourself.”

“You should have just told us all of the answers,” someone suggested.

 _I knew that was a good idea!_   Out loud, Kumiko said, “I thought of that, but figured it might look too obvious.”

That was the end of the questions.  Kumiko turned back to erase the board, feeling pretty good about the upcoming evaluation.  No matter what anyone said, her students were a good group of boys.  They’d do right by her.

~~~

Her students were assholes!

Kumiko slammed the door shut on her empty classroom and spun around, trying to think past her blinding rage.  There was no way every single person in the class spontaneously decided to skip her evaluation.  This had to be the work of Sawada; he was the only one in the class everyone listened to.

Seeing the Principal down the hall, Kumiko ran after him.  “Sir!  I need you to distract the evaluation committee for ten minutes.”

He stared at her.  “What?”

“Five minutes!  Five minutes will be enough!”

Taking his agreement as a given, she sprinted towards the stairwell cursing the stupid skirt she’d worn for the evaluation, cursing her stupid inconsiderate students, and, above all, cursing Sawada Shin.

She slammed open the door to the roof to find the entirety of 2-4 lounging around.  The guys closest to the door looked nervous, which meant she wasn’t doing a very good job of controlling her killing aura.  _Good._   “Get back to the classroom, now,” she gritted out.

As nervous as she was making them, the guys glanced over to where Sawada was lounging against a wall, confirming her suspicions.  She stomped over.  “Tell your classmates to get back to the room.”

“Sure,” he said.  “As long as you agree to fight me one-on-one.”

Kumiko’s blood ran cold.  “What?”  Catching herself, she pulled on her girly face.  “I mean, how can a weak little girl like me fight against—”

“Don’t,” said Sawada.  “I know you’re the one who beat up Kudou’s gang.”

 _Shit._   Kumiko dropped the act; she didn’t have time for it.

Clearly sensing her weakness, Sawada repeated, “I’ll send everyone back if you promise to fight me.”

“Fine,” she said.  What else could she do?  The Principal couldn’t keep the evaluation committee distracted forever.

“Oi, you better not be lying,” Sawada called after her as she walked back to the door.  “After school, by the river bank.”

Kumiko just waved at him and kept on walking, trying to put herself back in the prepared elite teacher headspace she’d been in when she first arrived that morning.

She arrived back downstairs to see the Principal performing a dance with bamboo blinds and folks songs.  The evaluation committee stood around, looking utterly baffled and possibly concerned for the Principal’s sanity.

Feeling dubious on that score as well, Kumiko slipped into the classroom and set up her materials.  Unfortunately, no matter how much she tried to focus, she kept getting distracted by one very important question: what the _hell_ was Sawada up to?


	4. The Fight!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to my beta CappuccettoRosso :)

Shin took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the cool river air.  Above him, on the sidewalk, he could hear Kuma, Uchi, and Minami chatting.  Out of the entire class, they were the only ones who thought Shin might be on to something with his suspicions about Yamaguchi.

Or, more likely, they were the only ones who liked Shin enough to keep him company for something as ridiculous as an after-school fight with a teacher.  They seemed to be entertaining themselves with speculation as to whether Yamaguchi would show up or not.

Shin wasn’t truly worried about Yamaguchi showing up; unlike most teachers, she seemed to place a high value on following through on her promises.  Maybe that was why he had jitters in his stomach.  If she showed up, he’d have to follow through on his own promise of a fight.  At the time, it had seemed like a good idea.  Now, with Kuma explaining to his friends about the last time Shin had had a violent encounter with a teacher, Shin was starting to have second thoughts.

Of course, this entire situation was different than what had happened between Shin, Ishizuka, and their junior high teacher.  That man had been a bully, who only picked on Ishizuka because he was the weakest in their class.  What had happened between Shin and the teacher couldn’t really be called a fight.  Shin had been half the man’s size and his pathetic attempt at a punch wouldn’t have caused so much as a bruise if the teacher hadn’t stumbled back in surprise and whacked his head against a desk on the way down.

That’s not how things would go down with Yamaguchi.  For one thing, Shin had learned to fight since junior high school.  For another, Yamaguchi was not a bully and, if Shin was right, she was anything but weak.  Of course, he couldn’t know for sure until he actually saw her fight.  Until then, all he had was the endless speculation that had consumed him since the very first day of class, when she had made that miracle catch.

They said curiosity killed the cat.  Shin hadn’t really thought about that until now, when he was faced with the prospect of sating his curiosity by going one-on-one with a woman who apparently knocked out and stacked thugs for fun.

A commotion above pulled him from his thoughts and he looked at the walkway to see Yamaguchi jumping over the fence.

Despite everything, Shin felt a small smile tugging at his lips.  “I knew you’d come.”

Yamaguchi looked unimpressed.  “And?”

Well, shit.  He got himself into this.  Pulling off his jacket and throwing it aside, he said, “Now we fight.”

Yamaguchi pulled off her jacket and threw it aside.  Then she shivered dramatically and picked up the jacket and pulled it back on again.

Shin stared at her and wondered if she was an idiot or just making fun of him.

“All right,” she said, crossing her arms.  “Why are we fighting?”

“Because you aren’t a normal teacher.  You’re really strong.  You fought off those third years and I need to see how you did it.”

She looked, if possible, even more unimpressed.

“I need to see!” Shin insisted, grabbing the front of her shirt even as he heard a voice in the back of his mind screaming, _what do you think you’re doing?_

This had all made sense to him yesterday.  Yesterday, Yamaguchi was an enigma, a mystery that had to be solved.  She could catch a pachinko ball but couldn’t get out of the way of Kuma’s hit.  She could make the students clean the classroom, but she couldn’t make them learn her subject.  She would cheer on a fist fight, but stop a knife fight.  She was strong enough to beat up Kudou’s gang, but refused to take credit for saving a student.

Yesterday, Shin would have given his right arm to finally understand what the hell was going on with his homeroom teacher.

Today he was realizing that, if she wanted to, Yamaguchi could probably take his arm right off.

What had he been _thinking_?

“I’m sorry to say that I have no intention of doing something so meaningless,” Yamaguchi said, sounding utterly calm despite the fact that his fist in her shirt was forcing her to stand on her toes.

Shin let out a sigh that he refused to call relief.  “Why?”

“You don’t go around bashing people for no reason, do you?”

Well, no.  He didn’t.

Warming to her theme, Yamaguchi added, “I don’t know what your obsession is with my strength, but get over it, join the chorus club, and move on with your life.”

Shin stared, all of his second thoughts scattered to the wind by the nonsense coming out of Yamaguchi’s mouth.  “Did you say… chorus club?”

“Male chorus club.  Fujiyama-sensei started it.  She wants you to join and I think it’s a good idea.”

Shin stared some more.  “Are you _trying_ to get me to hit you?”

A loud whistle interrupted them and Shin looked up to see a cop on the bridge over the river.  “What are you doing?” the cop shouted.

“It’s the cops,” Yamaguchi shouted, slapping Shin’s hand away like she might an insect.  Shin’s hand went numb at the impact.  “Shit, it’s the cops!”

“I know, damn it,” Shin snapped back, rubbing his hand.  Fuck, he’d never hear the end of this from his dad even if Yamaguchi didn’t throw him under the bus.  And why _wouldn’t_ she turn him in?  He’d just blackmailed her into a fight.  What the _hell_ had he been thinking?  How had he let this go so far?

The other boys were sliding down the embankment as the cop ran down the bridge to the sidewalk.  “Shin, there’s a cop,” Kuma called.

“I _know_ ,” Shin repeated.  “Shut up!”

“We have to get out of here,” Yamaguchi said.  “Spread yourselves out and scramble!”

“Wait, what?” Shin asked, but Yamaguchi was already gone, sprinting away from the policeman who was presumably there to save her from the dangerous gang of juvenile delinquents.  What the _hell_?

Kuma grabbed Shin’s arm, jolting him into a run.  “We’ve got to get out of here!”

As they ran after Yamaguchi, Minami huffed out, “Why is she running, anyway?  She’s a teacher.”

“I told you there was something weird about her,” Shin shot back, but his voice wasn’t as confident as usual.  He may have figured out that she was strong, but now he was starting to realize that that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Yamaguchi’s weirdness.


	5. Kumiko in Charge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE kudos to CappuccettoRosso, who went above and beyond on this chapter!

“I have to go to the hospital,” Kumiko shouted at the Principal, barely catching his startled glance as she ran past his door on the way to the car park.  She didn’t bother stopping for explanations – Fujiyama had been in the room when Kumiko got the news.  She’d heard Kumiko’s gasp about her grandfather coughing up blood.

Shinohara ran into her in the hallway of the hospital.  “How is he?” she asked, grabbing the lapels of his jacket.

“I don’t know,” Shinohara said, hands tentatively grasping her arms. “I just got here, too.”

Kumiko was torn between snuggling into Shinohara and looking for someone who might be more helpful, when Wakamatsu came into the waiting room and announced that Grandpa was going to be okay after a few weeks in the hospital.  At the same time, Shinohara’s arms continued their trajectory until they met at her back.

He was _hugging_ her.

Suddenly Kumiko found herself caught up in a welter of conflicting emotions.  Grandpa was okay – except that his cirrhosis had flared up again, which meant he was _still drinking_ despite promising her he would stop.  At the same time, _Shinohara was hugging her_ , which had never happened before and might never happen again if she let him go.

Her hands clutched the fabric of Shinohara’s jacket.  There was a pause.

“Uh, Ojou?  Did you hear me?” Wakamatsu asked.

 _Damn it,_ Kumiko snarled in her mind, reluctantly letting go of Shinohara.  “Where’s Grandpa’s room?”

Over the years Kumiko had seen her Grandpa in the hospital a number of times, but it never got any easier.  This time Grandpa looked especially wan and weak and Kumiko’s planned lecture on the evils of drinking petered out into a quiet, “No more alcohol, okay?”

Grandpa nodded, but then he’d promised to avoid alcohol before.  She’d believe it when she saw him actually turn down a drink from a yakuza brother.

“Kumiko,” Grandpa said, sounding a bit hesitant.

Kumiko was immediately wary.  “Yes, Grandpa?”

“I know you’re a busy woman, but I want to leave the Kuroda-kumi in your hands while I’m away.”

Kumiko gulped.  “Grandpa…” she started, but what could she say?  Someone had to watch over the kumi and she was the only blood relative Grandpa had left.  At the same time, some of her students were already suspicious about her and this could only make things worse.

Grandpa had already moved on.  “Shinohara-sensei, Wakamatsu-wakagashira.  Please support her for me.”

The two men agreed, while Kumiko tried not to panic.  Three weeks in the hospital, the doctor had said.  Three weeks.

The next three weeks had damn well better be the most boring three weeks in yakuza history.

~~~

The next day, Kumiko put aside the Grandpa Problem and went to school to deal with the Sawada Problem.  Except that Sawada seemed remarkably non-confrontational for someone who had tried to force a fist-fight with a teacher just a couple days before.  In fact, the first word out of his mouth when he saw her was, “Hey.”

Kumiko glanced at him.  “Um.  Good morning.”

“About that kid you bashed up, Kudou.”

Ah, so that was his game.  “That again?  I told you it was a misunderstanding.”

Sawada went on as if she hadn’t spoken.  “He’s been seen going in and out of the Nekomata yakuza office.”

That got her attention.  “What?”

“Be careful.  You don’t want to get messed up in the yakuza.”

Well, shit.  On the one hand, it was actually rather sweet of him to try and warn her.  On the other hand, his blanket assumption that the yakuza were bad news did not bode well for her students’ reaction if they ever discovered her background.  It was a good thing she’d already decided to keep it quiet.

~~~

Less than a week later, her hopes for a quiet three weeks as the head of the Kuroda family were destroyed by the arrival of Uncle Tenkai.

Uncle Tenkai wasn’t her actual uncle, of course, but he’d been in and out of her life as long as she could remember.  He was the head of the Tenkai group, a sibling family of the Kuroda family and he was currently having trouble with hooligans from another yakuza family invading the Tenkai territory.

This created a frustrating dilemma.  On the one hand, no one wanted to start a gang war over some teenage assholes.  On the other hand, Tenkai couldn’t ignore this behavior without losing reputation and reputation was everything in the yakuza world.

Wakamatsu bowed in apology as he said, “Tenkai Kumichou-san, I understand where you are coming from, but our boss is in the hospital and his second is currently in prison.  Unfortunately—”

Kumiko cut in, “Tenkai Kumichou, we will gladly offer you our help.”

Wakamatsu immediately started to protest, but it wasn’t his place to speak for the Kuroda group.  Grandpa had given that responsibility to Kumiko.

Still, she didn’t have to be a jerk about it, so she explained: “Think about it, Wakamatsu.  Tenkai Kumichou is a close ally of the family, almost like a real brother to Grandpa.  Do you think Grandpa wouldn’t honor the bond of brotherhood?”  Thinking of her own bonds with the Kuroda family, of her relationships with Tetsu and Minoru and Kyoutaro, she couldn’t help but sing a bit of _Kyoudai Jingi_ , specifically the part about bonds that were stronger than the bonds of blood.

Wakamatsu’s eyes welled up at the reminder of how important the bonds of brotherhood could be and he immediately begged her forgiveness and pledged his support to Tenkai’s cause.

Uncle Tenkai was clearly moved by Kumiko and Wakamatsu’s support and had to wipe his eyes before explaining his plan.  Rather than take on the hooligans in a fight, he would leverage the reputation of his allies – the Tanukibara and Uma-No-O families, as well as the Kuroda family – to force the Nekomata hooligans to back down.

Kumiko nodded her agreement.  Grandpa had always touted the benefits of teuchi over warfare.  Not only did it save on manpower – recruitment was a challenge these days and no one wanted to waste valuable men – but it helped to build stronger alliances and gave small families, like Kuroda, the necessary backing and resources to withstand a potential invading force.

As Uncle Tenkai was leaving, he tripped over his own hakama, whacking his head on the doorframe of his car.

“Ojou,” Minoru said uncertainly.  “Does that guy really have a brother bond with our boss?”

It suddenly occurred to Kumiko that she was banking a lot on some overheard conversations and a title that had been casually given to her to use when she was seven.  She thought that Uncle Tenkai and Grandpa were brothers, but seeing what an airhead Tenkai was made her wonder if she’d misunderstood their relationship.

 _Oh, crap_ , she thought.  _What the hell have I gotten myself into?_

~~~

The week before the Tenkai meeting was awful.  First, there had been the argument about bodyguards.  Wakamatsu had wanted Kumiko to have a guard 24/7, as Grandpa did, but Kumiko had flat-out refused.  There would be no way to continue to hide her background if she was walking around the school with a guard skulking behind.  On the other hand, she did have to acknowledge that she was now at greater risk as the proxy for Kuroda’s boss and, as Shinohara pointed out, something happening to her now could damage the reputation of the whole kumi.

They compromised with a bodyguard who followed her to school and parked a few blocks away.  He picked her up again after school and followed her home.  Outside of school, he followed at a discreet distance, just as Grandpa’s bodyguards did.

Kumiko hadn’t had a dedicated bodyguard since she was fourteen, when an ill-advised kidnapping for ransom had resulted in an entire yakuza family being wiped out by Kyoutaro and their territory temporarily taken over by the Kuroda family, until Grandpa had parceled it out in exchange for favors and alliances.  The incident had been the driving factor in Kyoutaro’s elevation to Grandpa’s second and had marked Kumiko as untouchable among the yakuza.  This didn’t help with bullies or petty criminals who might try to harass or rob her, but those were threats that she could easily handle herself and so she had been allowed a level of personal autonomy that was unheard of for a yakuza heir.

In the near-decade since the kidnapping, Kumiko had gotten very comfortable with her independence and she chafed at the need for a bodyguard.

Making things worse was the _not knowing_.  Tenkai had promised an update on the Nekomata situation at the meeting on Sunday.  At the time, that had seemed reasonable, but after a couple of days of trying to teach while constantly wondering about what was going on in the yakuza world, Kumiko was emotionally exhausted.  For the first time, she was willing to admit that Grandpa might be right to exclude her from the family business.  She didn’t think she was cut out for this level of extended uncertainty.

Fortunately, things had settled down at school.  From what she could see, Sawada had lost interest in fighting her, which was a relief.  Unfortunately, this also meant he had apparently lost all interest in school, as he was spending most of his days napping in the back of the room.  According to the other teachers, Sawada showing up at all was still an improvement over last year, and Kumiko had to admit that on the rare times that homework was assigned, Sawada always managed to turn his in.  He may not have taken her advice and joined the chorus club, but at least he was still functional.

That couldn’t necessarily be said for the rest of her class, but she did have to acknowledge that the number of fights per day was starting to go down and she hadn’t seen a knife since the Sonomura incident.  It may be slow, but progress was definitely being made.

If only she could say the same thing about the Tenkai situation, damn it!

~~~

No matter how much Grandpa had tried to shield Kumiko from yakuza activity over the years, she’d picked up a lot just by observing.  One thing she knew: if she was going to play the part of a female yakuza, she had to look the part of a female yakuza.

Fortunately, she had an example of the perfect yakuza woman in Wakamatsu Yasue.  Yasue had made some attempts over the years to feminize Kumiko and, while those attempts had generally been utter failures, there were a few remnants that would be valuable now.  One was the formal kimono that was typically worn only at New Year and otherwise kept at the back of Kumiko’s closet.  The other was a small stack of style magazines.

Armed with a picture and a kimono-carrying bodyguard, Kumiko headed for the nicest salon in her neighborhood on the morning of the Tenkai meeting.  The Kuroda family didn’t have much use for salons in general, so the staff greeted her politely but without the usual excessive deference of a business person in Kuroda territory.  “How can I help you?” the stylist asked.

“Can you dress me in a formal kimono?  I’ll also need hair and makeup.”

“No problem!  Is this for a wedding?”

“No,” Kumiko said, and distracted him from asking further questions by handing over the picture she had pulled from one of Yasue’s magazines.  It was of a beautiful model dressed in the traditional style, with a perfectly draped kimono, a precisely arranged low bun, and discreet touches of makeup that highlighted the model’s delicate features.  “Can you make me look like this?”

“Of course,” the stylist said, though he did look rather askance at her pigtails and glasses.

The process took over two hours, from the application of makeup, to the careful draping of the four layers of the kimono, to the elaborate styling of her hair, which required a mountain of pins and combs, but which made her hair look thicker and kept it firmly in place.  As long as she didn’t run into anyone or jostle her hair against anything, she would do her family proud at the meeting.

As Kumiko looked herself over in the salon’s dressing room mirror, she could see why Yasue wore a kimono every day.  In some ways, the heavy layers of silk and embroidery were like wearing armor; the protection of time and tradition were intangible, but the psychological support was real.

Crossing her arms so that she could tuck her hands into the sleeves of the kimono, she stepped forward and gave the mirror her best kakugoshiiya glare.  The woman reflected back looked strong and elegant and Kumiko felt a little thrill of excitement.

Feeling vastly more confident, Kumiko started back home.  She caught a few people staring at her as she walked past; they probably assumed she was going to a wedding, but it was still nice to see that her outfit was striking enough to catch the eye of strangers.  That was the point of this whole exercise: a yakuza boss didn’t fade into the background.

The reaction at home was gratifying as well.  Wakamatsu and Minoru were both struck speechless at the sight of her and Tetsu kept saying, “Ojou!  You look _awesome_!”

She grinned and then gave them the kakugoshiiya pose.  Everyone broke out in raptures and asked her to do it again and again.

She was on her fourth pose when she heard the screen door slide open and Shinohara’s laughter filled the air.  Kumiko turned around to see that Shinohara was looking at _her_.  He was laughing at _her_.

All of her newfound confidence abruptly rushed out of her and, to her horror, she felt her eyes start to fill with tears.  She turned away quickly and blinked several times, trying to blink back the tears before they overflowed and ruined her carefully applied makeup.  Behind her, she could hear Wakamatsu and Tetsu remonstrating with Shinohara.

Minoru came up next to her.  “Hey, don’t cry.  You know he didn’t mean it.  He was just surprised, that’s all.”

Surprised, _ha_.  He wasn’t surprised, he was laughing at the little girl playing grown up.  That’s all she was to Shinohara: a child.

But she wasn’t a child, not anymore.  She had a job to do, and she wasn’t going to embarrass Grandpa or the kumi by showing up with puffy eyes and a tear-stained face.  Taking deep breaths, she centered her emotions and forced back her tears through sheer effort of will.  By the time Shinohara asked if she was ready to go, she was able to answer with a firm, “Yes!”

~~~

As awesome as Kumiko’s hairstyle was, it was also incredibly annoying.  The hair that had been pinned up added a couple of inches of extra height and if it hadn’t been for Wakamatsu’s quick warning, Kumiko would have whacked her hair against the frame of the car door, ruining all of the salon’s efforts.

Protecting her hair while getting out of the car – and being sure the entire process looked effortless, like she did it every day – was a pain in the ass.  She blamed the hair for the fact that she didn’t notice Sawada Shin until she was literally standing right in front of him.

They stared at each other for a moment.  Kumiko’s mind was racing.  Her hair and the sunglasses Shinohara had given her would change the shape of her face and the makeup would transform her facial features.  Combined with the kimono, it was a really effective disguise.  Surely it would be enough to fool Sawada.  Surely.

Except that Sawada was still staring at her and she could feel her forehead start to sweat under the force of the intelligence behind his gaze.  Sawada wasn’t like her other students.  He could put two and two together.

A man opened the door and said, “Ah, the Kuroda family.  Please, come this way.”

Relieved, Kumiko stepped past Sawada and headed for the building, feeling the comforting presence of Wakamatsu and Shinohara at her back.  Behind her, she heard the quiet voices of some of her other students – Kuma and Minami, perhaps, speculating on her identity – but nothing at all from Sawada.  She couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad sign.

For better or worse, she didn’t have time to worry about the Sawada situation.  Not when her escort opened the door to the main meeting room.  Now was the most crucial moment of the meeting; if she didn’t take control now, she would lose face forever, not only for herself, but for Grandpa and the Kuroda family as a whole.

“Excuse me,” she said, pitching the timbre of her voice slightly lower and speaking slightly louder than usual.  It was important that no one associate her gender with submissiveness.  “I am the third generation Kuroda representative, Kumiko.”  She glanced at the two men with Tenkai; they looked vaguely familiar, probably from other yakuza gatherings.  Fortunately, she knew the families they represented, which saved her from having to identify them by name.  “Tankukibara Kumichou-san, Uma-No-O Kumicho-san; I believe we’ve met before.”

The younger guy – probably the Uma-No-O representative, as she knew Tankukibara was currently led by an older boss – immediately started to protest.  Kumiko talked right over him.  “You may think that this is no place for a woman!  However, I have received the honor of representing my Grandfather Ryuuichirou.  I beg your pardon and understanding.”  There, that should do it.  To turn her away now would be turning away her grandfather.

There was a long pause; Kumiko was holding her breath and she thought Uncle Tenkai was doing the same.

Suddenly Tankukibara burst out laughing.  Kumiko hesitated, wondering if she should take offense, but Tankukibara said, “If it isn’t the granddaughter of the rising dragon!  I have no objections.”  He turned a steely gaze on the Uma-No-O representative.  “You don’t have any objections, do you?”

The Uma-No-O representative looked uncomfortable.  “Uh, no.  Of course not.”

Kumiko swallowed a relieved sigh.  That was the first test passed.

“Good,” Tankukibara said as Kumiko settled into seiza.  “Then let’s get started.  Tenkai-san, have you heard back from the Nekomata Kumichou yet?”

“I have,” Uncle Tenkai said.  “In fact, he heard your names and immediately backed down.”

Kumiko wasn’t quite able to hold back this sigh.  Teuchi.  On the one hand, this was vastly better than a war.  On the other hand, what an enormous amount of effort for a problem that had apparently been resolved before the meeting had even started.

But Uncle Tenkai wasn’t done.  “There’s a subgroup of Nekomata who do not agree with the Kumichou’s decision and have sworn violence instead.”

“Pathetic,” Tankukibara said.  “This is what happens when you fill your kumi with nothing but young hooligans.”

“That may be so,” Uncle Tenkai said, “but please watch your backs regardless.”  He bowed.  “Thank you for your assistance.”

With that, the meeting was over.  Overall, that went as well as it could have and far better than Kumiko had feared.  She thought Grandpa would be pleased.

She was thinking about how to tell Grandpa about this – maybe they could go straight to the hospital; it would be a shame for him not to get the chance to see her all dressed up – when she stepped outside and heard a man scream “Go to hell!”

Kumiko’s head snapped up to see a huge guy – ugly and sweating – pointing a gun at her. 

She froze, cursing the stifling weight of her kimono layers and her current lack of mobility.  There was no way she could grab the guy’s gun with this outfit on; she’d have to wait for a better moment.  The gunman looked over his shoulder and yelled, “Aniki!  She’s a woman!  She has no balls!”

Before Kumiko could do anything with that baffling statement, Shinohara jumped in front of her, shouting for her to get down.  A gunshot rang out a half-second later and Kumiko almost collapsed under Shinohara’s weight as he suddenly went boneless.

In the background she could hear the bodyguards going after the gunman and the sounds of tires squealing against the pavement.  The noise was strangely muffled, however, and she couldn’t seem to take her focus off of the heavy weight in her arms and the trickling wet warmth she felt against her fingertips.  Shifting Shinohara to one arm, she held up the other to see that it was covered in blood.

Panic flooded her system.  “Shinohara-sensei?”

He remained motionless; she couldn’t even feel him breathing.

“No!” she shouted.  “Shinohara-sensei!  Wake up!”

Suddenly Wakamatsu was there, taking most of Shinohara’s weight.  “Come on, Ojou,” he said urgently.  “We’ve got to get him to the hospital.”

Kumiko let Wakamatsu take Shinohara and hiked up her kimono enough that she could run after him.

It was only later that she realized that she’d permanently spoiled the silk with smears of Shinohara’s blood.

~~~

Kumiko’s bodyguard drove her to the hospital.  They hadn’t even made it to the waiting room before Wakamatsu greeted them with, “He’ll live.  The bullet went through his shoulder.”

Kumiko swallowed hard.  There were a lot of nerves in the shoulder.  “Will there be any permanent damage?”

“He’s in surgery now,” Wakamatsu said.  “The doctor said they’ll know more after the surgery is done.”

Kumiko nodded numbly.  When the others went into the surgical waiting room, she turned on her heel and headed for the elevator.

Grandpa was lying in bed when she got to his room, still a little too pale and looking bored.  “Kumiko!” he said, sounding both surprised and pleased.  “What are you doing here?”

Apparently she’d beaten Wakamatsu to the punch.  “Shinohara’s in surgery.  He was shot.”

Grandpa’s face tightened.  “Tell me everything,” he said in his Kumichou voice.  “ _Everything_.”

So she told him everything, even the bits that he probably already knew from Wakamatsu.  She told him about Uncle Tenkai’s visit and about the Nekomata hooligans, because it was important for him to be aware of conflict among the families.  She told him about her choice to support Tenkai and about how she prepared for the meeting, because it was important for him to understand her thinking and her preparations.  She told him about how she’d been quickly accepted by Tankukibara Kumichou and initially dismissed by Uma-No-O Kumicho, because those reactions would influence Grandpa’s behavior with those families moving forward.  Finally she told him the outcome of the meeting and what happened just outside the Tenkai office, and her voice shook only slightly as she described Shinohara jumping in front of her and taking the bullet meant for Kuroda’s representative.

“Teuchi,” Grandpa said.  “An excellent outcome.  You’ve done very well, Kumiko.”

Somehow, after everything that had happened today, it was that bit of kindness that broke Kumiko’s reserve.  Tears started to trickle down her face as she protested, “But Shinohara got shot!”

“He did,” Grandpa agreed.  “There is inherent risk in our work and Shinohara knew those risks when he joined us.  That he took the bullet meant for you speaks very highly of his loyalty and courage.  Based on what you told me, I have high hopes for his full recovery.”

Kumiko sniffed and wiped her eyes.  “Do you think so?”

“I am sure of it.  Now, it’s been almost a week since you’ve visited last.  How are your classes going?  Are your students becoming any better behaved?”

Kumiko spent nearly an hour visiting with her grandfather, sneaking in questions about his health in between anecdotes about the various misadventures of her students.  It was a brief window of peace in what was an otherwise awful day, and her heart filled with love for her Grandpa, who always knew just how to make her feel better.

By the time she got to the waiting room, it was overflowing with what looked like every member of the Kuroda kumi.  Minoru was waiting by the door and as soon as she stepped in, he came up to say, “He’s still in surgery, but the doc says there’s no long-term damage.  The bullet nicked an artery, so he lost a lot of blood, but we got him to the hospital fast enough that there won’t be any permanent effects.”

Kumiko let out a deep sigh of relief.  “Thank you, Minoru.”

He smiled shyly.  “I’m glad you’re okay, Ojou.  Did you go to see the boss?”

“Yeah.  He’s fine, too.”

They settled in to wait, Minoru sitting on the floor and Kumiko sitting in a hastily vacated chair.  It was another two hours before the doctor came in and she went immediately to Wakamatsu, who was sitting next to Kumiko.  “He’s in recovery.”

“Is he okay?” Kumiko asked.

“He’ll be fine,” the doctor answered.  “We’re releasing him tomorrow, as soon as we can be sure there is no danger from infection or an adverse reaction to the anesthesia.”

“Can I – I mean, can we see him?”

The doctor shook her head.  “I’m afraid he’s still unconscious and is unlikely to wake up soon.  Visiting hours ended twenty minutes ago, so it’s best if you go home tonight and come back tomorrow.”

Damn it, she had school tomorrow.  Still, there was nothing she could do now but wait.

Wait, and ensure that there was a bodyguard on Shinohara at all times.  He was _not_ getting hurt again on her watch.

~~~

School on Monday felt interminable and, for once, Kumiko bolted out of the building without forcing the students to clean the classroom.  Undoubtedly she’d regret that later – consistency was key when training teenagers – but she didn’t know what time Shinohara was getting released and she didn’t want to risk missing him.

Fortunately she just made it: Shinohara was finishing up with his doctor as she arrived and he stepped out of his room just a couple of minutes later.  “Kumiko-chan,” he said, sounding pleased.  “You didn’t have to come.  It was just a graze.”

Kumiko grinned back, her heart beating faster at his smile.  He was happy she’d come.  She felt like she could fly.

Wakamatsu had come out of the room after Shinohara – probably taking a shift at being Shinohara’s bodyguard – and now he said, “You know, Sensei, it’s going to be inconvenient to only have one hand, especially since you live alone.  Would you be willing to stay at the kumi for a while?”

Shinohara looked away from Kumiko, which gave her racing heart a chance to slow down, and said, “Oh, no.  I’ll be fine.”

Wakamatsu demonstrated why he was third in command of the whole kumi by insisting on hosting Shinohara and refusing to take no for an answer.  After Shinohara had been berated into accepting the kumi’s hospitality “for a day or two”, Wakamatsu looked at Kumiko and winked.

She gave him a thumbs up back, grinning.  She loved her family.

Unfortunately, her grin did not survive the trip out of the hospital.  People stared at them, shrinking back in fear as they walked past, and Kumiko heard a couple of patients muttering about how Shinohara deserved to get shot, because he worked with the yakuza.

She’d been about to teach those patients a lesson in respect when Shinohara grabbed her lightly by the elbow with his good hand.  “Hey now.  Don’t go bashing up patients.”

“But they were being rude!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug.  “Let them say what they want.”

Shinohara, Kumiko thought, was a much nicer person than she.

He was also more hurt than she realized; he’d barely been settled into his room before he was asleep.  It was still a good evening, though: Kumiko, Wakamatsu, Tetsu and Minoru all sat around the chabudai and exchanged Shinohara stories, enjoying the comforting familiarity of family.

Later that night, Kumiko peeked into Shinohara’s room and satisfied herself that he was okay, safely ensconced in the shelter of the kumi.


	6. The Shirokin Festival

After the disastrous fight-that-wasn’t by the river, Shin decided to keep his head down for a while.  Other than the warning about Kudou – who was hanging out with the _yakuza_ , holy shit – Shin avoided speaking to Yamaguchi whenever possible. 

Just because he was keeping his mouth shut didn’t mean he stopped paying attention, however, and Yamaguchi continued to be interesting.  Not because of fighting – Shin knew Shirokin’s reputation, but they didn’t fight _constantly_ – but because something was clearly going on with her.

It all started the day after the river non-fight, when everyone had seen Yamaguchi sprint out of the school like she was being chased by gunmen.  Rumors had run rampant, ranging from a hot date to a family emergency, though the general consensus was that it was probably something stupid, like her remembering she’d left the stove on after making breakfast.

Shin had worried that it had something to do with the non-fight and had actually suffered a couple of nights of disturbed sleep before he decided that he’d been mistaken.

The week after her abrupt departure, Yamaguchi was clearly distracted.  She made less of an effort than usual to get the class to pay attention, she didn’t always notice when someone called her name, and she stopped hanging out with Fujiyama after school.  The “hot date” theory gained traction in the rumor mill, though the student body in general had a tough time imagining who would be willing to go on a date with Yamaguchi.

The speculation when she ran out of school a _second_ time was positively wild.  Had Yamaguchi caught her boyfriend in a tryst with another woman?  Was she getting engaged?  What kind of crazy fool would marry _Yamaguchi_?  Maybe the whole dating thing was wrong after all and there was another family emergency.  Maybe someone had died! 

Shin listened to it all, but refused to offer any speculation of his own.  He was already spending way too much energy thinking about Yamaguchi and it was starting to drive him a little nuts.  Hell, over the weekend, he’d run into a yakuza woman and for a moment he thought _she_ looked like Yamaguchi.  Clearly he needed to think about something else for a while.  Anything else.

The annual school festival was pretty lame as distractions went, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, so he listened in as the class tossed around ideas.  There were a few ideas that weren’t terrible.  Unfortunately, those were all discarded in favor of Noda’s Charismatic Host Club suggestion.  Shin started to have a bad feeling.

Sure enough, when Yamaguchi came over to find out what was going on, the first thing Noda said was, “We need Shin.”

_Oh, hell no._

Noda continued to spin his plan, which basically boiled down to Shin and two other semi-reputable-looking students acting as bait to sucker girls into the 2-4 classroom where they’d get to “enjoy” the “hospitality” of the rest of the class.

“Oh, hell no,” Shin said, when Yamaguchi started to nod along with Noda’s ridiculous suggestions instead of putting a stop to them like a responsible teacher.  “We’re not doing that shit.”

“Aw, come on,” Noda wheedled.  “All you gotta do is stand there in a suit.”

“No,” Shin said again.

The problem was that Shin’s friends were fully capable of nagging indefinitely, while the energy Shin was willing to devote to pushing back was limited.  After two weeks of begging and pleading from his classmates, Shin’s willpower was basically exhausted.  The last straw was Noda coming into the room with a shocked expression on his face.

“What’s up?” one of Noda’s group asked.

“I just heard Yankumi in hallway, talking to the Vice Principal.”

The whole class groaned.  It was never good when the Vice Principal was talking to your teacher.

“No,” Noda said quickly.  “It wasn’t bad.  Actually, she… stood up for us.  The Vice Principal told her to make us change our plan for the festival and she said that we were being creative and showing initiative and that she wanted us to go ahead.  When he kept pushing, she said she’d take full responsibility for us.”

An awed silence overtook the class.  Even Shin was surprised.  Sure, Yamaguchi was different, but standing up to the Vice Principal?  No one did that.

“Wow,” someone said.  “She’s got some guts.”

“Yeah,” Noda agreed.

“Maybe we should rethink adding whisky to the soda.”

Shin gagged silently.  Noda winced.  “Yeah, I don’t think that was ever a good idea.”

There was a general air of acknowledgement before Noda turned to Shin.  “So you’re in, right?”

Shin sighed and conceded defeat.  “Fine.  But don’t expect me to smile.”

The class cheered.

~~~

Shin recognized that the living allowance his parents gave him was generous.  It paid for his rent, his food, his school fees and clothes, and even had a little left over for spending money.  As long as he stayed in school, his father had promised that Shin would not have to work and he’d kept to that promise.

That said, Shin wasn’t thrilled about having to spend his limited funds on buying a suit for this stupid school festival and he spent a couple of days trying to think of an alternative option.  Unfortunately, no one rented just plain suits and there was no way Shin was showing up in a tux.  The only other alternative was to ask his brother if he could borrow a suit and… no.  Just… no.

Which was how Shin found himself in a store, staring at a rack of black suits in distaste.  His original intention had been to buy the cheapest suit available, since he almost never had a chance to wear them and at the rate he was growing he wouldn’t even be able to use the suit for next year’s festival.

The problem was, these suits were _boring_.  And it wasn’t like Shin was fashion-obsessed or anything – and he definitely didn’t care about looking fashionable for a bunch of random girls – but he didn’t like the idea of being boring.  Especially not if Yama—

Shin squelched that line of thought.  It didn’t matter who might be at the festival, what mattered was that Shin wasn’t going to fall into his father’s image of the perfect son.  His dad would want him to wear a black suit and white shirt.  That in itself was enough reason to find something different, even if he did have to spend a bit more.

Bolstered by that argument, Shin went over to look at some of the more daring suits.

~~~

The festival started off like it did every year: a bunch of thugs from other schools showed up and immediately tried to start up a fight, while the adults in charge of keeping the peace hid in the teacher’s lounge except for the occasional obligatory foray clustered in obviously terrified and utterly ineffectual groups of three.  In fact, the only teacher Shin saw walking around alone was Yamaguchi, which was mostly surprising because of Shin’s utter lack of surprise.  Hard to imagine that just a month before they were all laughing at their wimpy new math teacher.

Of course, Yamaguchi was still a pain in the ass.  Shin was standing by the door – Noda had insisted because Shin “wasn’t doing his part to bring in the ladies” – when Yamaguchi showed up and she immediately made a fuss over his suit.  Shin told her to shut up, which did exactly nothing to make her stop.

Fortunately, Kuma and Minami came running up.  “Shin!” Minami shouted.  “Did you hear about Mr. X?  Apparently he’s going around beating up the assholes from other schools who are hassling the Shirokin students.”

“Mr. X?” Shin repeated dubiously.

“He wears a mask!” Minami answered.  “No one knows who he is.”

“Everyone thinks he’s a professional wrestler,” Kuma added, earning a well-deserved smack from Minami.

Shin ignored their bickering in favor of Yamaguchi, who had an incredibly smug look on her face.  “What’re you smirking about?”

“Nothing!” she said and Shin felt a bubble of warmth in his chest as he realized that, while she was clearly lying to him, she’d at least dropped the girly mask.  “Anyway,” she added quickly, “how’s the turnout?”

Noda groaned.  “Terrible.”

Yamaguchi looked surprised, like she’d honestly thought that a random host club populated by a bunch of juvenile delinquents would have been a big hit with the local teenage girls.  “Terrible?  Really?”

“Yeah,” Noda sighed.  “The only girl who came in was Kinoshita’s girlfriend.”

Yamaguchi grinned and elbowed Kinoshita in the side.  “You have a girlfriend?”

Kinoshita was too busy holding his ribs and whimpering to answer, so Yamaguchi turned back to Noda.  “No one else?  Really?”

“Well Fujiyama came in and, uh, requested Shin.”

There was a long pause.

“Right.”  Yamaguchi cleared her throat.  “Maybe the problem is that no one’s coming around to this side of the school.”

“They’re coming,” Noda said.  “But no one’s coming in.”

Yamaguchi looked thoughtful, which Shin recognized as a bad sign.  Abruptly she turned on the rest of the students with a fierce face.  “What you guys doing to bring in the customers, huh?  You’re not idols, you know!  Girls aren’t just going to come in themselves!  If you’re going to do this job, you better do it right.  Throw away your pride!  Get on your knees!  Drag them in if you have to!”

Shin covered his face to smother a groan as Noda and everyone else stared at Yamaguchi with wide eyes.

Except, somehow, it _worked_.  Kinoshita stopped whimpering and went out into the hallway to flirt like a champ.  Girls started trickling in, giving Noda the chance to be utterly irritating as the “greeter” who shouted Kinoshita’s conquests into a microphone.

Yamaguchi sidled up to Shin.  “See?  You can do it if you try.”

“I’d rather poke my eye out with a fork,” Shin said flatly and walked away.  If anyone asked, he needed a piss.

When he came back, he found a poster had been taped up to the door of the classroom, announcing that “This Week’s #1 is KINOSHITA AKIRA”.

Why that conniving, ridiculous, _obvious_ , irritating…  Shin glanced over at a group of girls that were hovering a few feet away.  “Oi!” he snapped at them.  “Shut up and follow me.”

Five minutes later, he had a group of twenty girls follow him into the classroom.  Noda nearly fell over in joy, while Yamaguchi smirked and wandered out.

At which point Shin realized that he was now stuck talking to twenty giggling teenagers.

_Damn it!_

~~~

Shin was exhausted and still a little pissed off when the festival finally came to an end and he could escape the girls with the excuse of needing to change back into his school uniform.

When he got back to the classroom, he found Terada pushing himself off the floor, blood running down his face.  “What the hell happened?”

“Some guys came and took Kinoshita.”

Kinoshita?  Really?  If Shin had to pick the person in class who was least likely to piss off a bunch of thugs, Kinoshita would’ve been on the short list.  “Did they say where they were taking him?”

“No, but they said they were from Daigin.  Doumoto was in charge.”

Crap.  Doumoto was just a junior high kid, but he already had a reputation for being very violent.  Shin sprinted out into the hallway and headed for the nearest stairs.  If they were dragging Kinoshita away against his will, they were probably behind the school, where there was less foot traffic and a straight shot to an abandoned warehouse a couple of blocks away.

Sure enough, when he rounded the side of the building, he could see a bunch of guys clustered around a terrified-looking Kinoshita.  “Hey!  Stop!” Shin shouted, running faster. 

“Shin!” Kinoshita shouted, sounding relieved.

Shin ignored him for the time being, focusing on the half-dozen guys surrounding him.  “Who the hell are you and what do you want with Kinoshita?”

“He took Doumoto’s woman,” one of the guys said, following up his answer with a punch.  Shin jumped out of the way just in time and swung back as hard as he could, slamming his fist into the guy’s face.  He barely had time to register the pain in his hand before a new guy slammed his foot into Shin’s stomach.  “Shit,” Shin growled, clutching his stomach for a second before lunging forward to throw a punch in return.

A third guy grabbed him from behind, and Shin swore again, realizing that he should’ve thought this whole rescue through better.  The kicker came up with a grin on his face and pulled his fist back, telegraphing a knockout punch.  Shin shut his eyes and waited for the blow.

Instead, he heard a couple of loud thuds and the arms holding him still suddenly loosened.  He opened his eyes to see Yamaguchi, wearing a ski mask, drag the now-unconscious kicker to the side.  “Where’s Kinoshita?” she asked.

Shin looked around.  The gaggle of thugs was gone, leaving him, Yamaguchi, and the two guys Yamaguchi had apparently knocked out.  “I didn’t see where they took him, but I’d guess they’re at the warehouse.  It’s a couple of blocks from here, and abandoned.”

Yamaguchi immediately took off and Shin sprinted after her.  “Hey, Yamaguchi!”

“What?” she shouted back, then stumbled to a stop.  “Crap!” she said, holding her hands over her mouth.

Shin rolled his eyes.  “You’re wearing your usual tracksuit, idiot.  And you haven’t tried to disguise your voice.  Anyway, take that thing off.  You’re more obvious with it on.”

Yamaguchi glanced over at a couple of kids who were sneaking across to the other side of the street and sighed, pulling off the mask.  She looked a little red faced; the wool mask must’ve been hot.

Shin snorted.  “Some giant Mr. X turned out to be.  I can’t believe anyone thought you were a professional wrestler.” 

“That’s beside the point,” Yamaguchi snapped.  “Come on, we’ve got to save Kinoshita.”

They started running again.  Shin, who occasionally went running when he was bored or frustrated or just sick of his apartment, managed to keep up, if just barely.  Yamaguchi was _fast_.

She was also in great shape.  When they got close to the warehouse, she asked, without even sounding out of breath, “Do you know why they took Kinoshita?”

Shin tried to keep his voice as even as hers as he answered, “They said something about him stealing Doumoto’s girl.”

Yamaguchi stopped.

Shin’s momentum carried him forward several more steps before he could stop and turn around to see Yamaguchi’s outraged face.  “What?  Kinoshita took another guy’s woman?”

“Uh… maybe?”

“Oh, that bastard,” Yamaguchi growled.  “No way he’s getting away with that.”

Shin rolled his eyes so hard that he actually felt a twinge of pain.  “That’s _beside the point_ ,” he snapped.  “Kinoshita needs help now!”

“Right,” Yamaguchi said, nodding sharply.  “We’ll rescue Kinoshita and _then_ work out the whole woman-stealing issue.”

“Whatever,” Shin said.  “The entrance is over there.”

Yamaguchi led the way, primarily because she walked a just little bit faster than Shin and he wasn’t about to break out into a run to keep up.  “I see them,” she murmured.  “Looks like half a dozen or so.  The woman’s there, too.”  She unzipped her jacket.

“Wait,” Shin said as she pulled the jacket off.  “What are you…?”

Yamaguchi threw the jacket over his head and he heard her footsteps walking away.

Sighing at the utter stupidity of the world in general and Yamaguchi in particular, Shin snatched the jacket off of his head.  He briefly considered throwing it on the ground, but Yamaguchi did save him from a beating earlier, so he tied it around his waist while moving forward to follow Yamaguchi into the warehouse.

Admittedly, he didn’t follow her exact same route, because Yamaguchi climbed up onto a pile of wood so that she could jump into the middle of the nearest cluster of thugs.  They started back, staring.   “Who the fuck are you?” one shouted.

“Me?” Yamaguchi asked innocently.  “I’m the homeroom teacher.”

Shin covered his face with his hand again.  What an _idiot_!

There was a brief bit of muttering as everyone confirmed that Yamaguchi had said what it had sounded like she said.  At the same time, Yamaguchi was looking around.  Her eyes sharpened and Shin followed her gaze to see Kinoshita lying on the floor.  “Kinoshita!” she shouted.  “Are you okay?”

Kinoshita shifted around on the floor and Shin let out a sigh of relief at the sign of life.  “Yankumi,” Kinoshita said in a pained voice as he managed to push himself onto his side.

“Yo,” said a hulking kid sitting on a pile of wood.  Shin guessed that this was Doumoto.  “This ain’t got nothing to do with you, teach.  Piss off before you get hurt.”

Yamaguchi leaned back and murmured, “Is that Doumoto?”

Shin was surprised that she’d heard him come up behind her in all the ruckus.  “Probably,” he said in answer to her question.

“Good.”  She turned to Doumoto.  “This has everything to do with me.  Don’t they say that a teacher is like a parent and a student is like a child?”

Muttering broke out, which made sense, because Yamaguchi was clearly talking a lot of shit.  One guy laughed and said, “No one says that, you moron!”

Yamaguchi elbowed him in the stomach, saying playfully, “You’re such a know-it-all.”

She continued forward, apparently not noticing that the guy she elbowed had collapsed and was now rolling back and forth on the ground, groaning in pain.

Everyone else had certainly noticed the fallen thug and a couple of guys stood up and started forward with menacing expressions.  “Wait!” Yamaguchi said, holding up her hand.  “There’s one thing we need to clear up first.”  She turned to Kinoshita.  “Kinoshita, is it true you took that guy’s woman?”

Kinoshita had managed to sit upright, but he still looked pretty pathetic as he answered, “She didn’t say anything about having a boyfriend.”

Yamaguchi nodded sharply.  “That’s all right, then.”

She turned to the girl being held off to the side by a thug.  “You!  Pretty girl!  What have you got to say for yourself?”

“I don’t know this guy at all!” the girl shouted.  “He’s just been following me around like a creeper!”

Even Yamaguchi looked taken aback by the girl’s bluntness.  “Oh.  Oh, dear.”

Doumoto stood up, his face red with rage.  “Don’t you dare pity me, you assholes!  Damn it, it’s your fault,” he added to Kinoshita, right before kicking him in the face.  Kinoshita dropped like a sack of potatoes and his girlfriend screamed.

An aura of menace suddenly surrounded Yamaguchi and she turned toward Doumoto with fury twisting her features.  “You bastard.  How dare you hurt my student.”

Doumoto hesitated in the face of Yamaguchi’s rage.  Shin couldn’t blame him; she was terrifying to Shin and he wasn’t even her target.

Of course, Doumoto had half a dozen guys on his side.  “I don’t care if she’s a teacher,” he shouted.  “Take ‘em down!”

Yamaguchi stretched slightly, loosening up her shoulders.  “Initial-S,” she said in a commanding voice.  “Stay back.”

Hung up on the “Initial-S” – really, what the fuck was that about? – Shin almost missed the start of the fight.  The largest guy in the warehouse, a monster a full foot taller than Yamaguchi, charged her and then, all of a sudden, he was down on the ground, moaning.

Shin, who had grabbed the nearest thug in preparation for a punch, paused.  So did the thug.  “What the fuck,” the thug said, sounding shocked.

Yamaguchi took another step toward Doumoto.  Another guy tried to charge her and half a second later, he was on the ground, too.

_Who the hell is this woman?_ Shin thought numbly.

“Stop!” Doumoto said, stumbling back away from Yamaguchi, who was advancing with the unstoppable lethality of a Terminator.  “Wait!  I’m sorry!”

“Too late,” Yamaguchi said, and she kicked Doumoto in the face hard enough that he actually flew back several feet before he hit the ground.

“Holy shit,” Shin breathed as the rest of Doumoto’s gang went running.

“Hey!” Yamaguchi shouted after them.  “Don’t forget your friends!”

It was too late – they were already out of hearing distance.

Shin turned to Yamaguchi, ready to insist on an explanation, when the rest of 2-4 came up, panting and gasping for air.  “Here you are!” Minami said between gasps.

“Are you all right?” Kuma wheezed.

Suddenly Minami looked around.  “Wait, where’s Doumoto?”

Shin glanced around.  Kinoshita was still unconscious on the floor, his girlfriend hovering over him.  It looked like the rest of the thugs, including Doumoto, had managed to crawl away.  “They ran off,” he said.

“Really?” Minami said.  “Why?”

Shin glanced at Yamaguchi, who subtly shook her head.

Well, fuck it.  Shin didn’t know what was going on, but Yamaguchi had saved him and Kinoshita.  If she wanted him to keep it quiet, he’d keep it quiet.  “How should I know why they ran away?  Anyway, we need to get Kinoshita to the hospital.  He’s completely knocked out.”

The other boys started swearing and hurried over to Kinoshita.  Between them, they were able to pick him up and carry him away, the girlfriend following close behind.

That just left Shin and Yamaguchi.

“You didn’t…” Yamaguchi started.

Shin threw her jacket in her face, returning the favor.

“You’re a weirdo and an idiot and I don’t know why you want to keep it a secret that you’re strong.  But if you don’t want me to tell anyone, I won’t.”

Yamaguchi stared at him for a moment, before slapping him on the arm and ruffling his hair.

Shin narrowed his eyes at her.  “Stop that.”

She beamed.  “You know, underneath that world weary exterior, you’re really a good guy.”  She walked off, jacket over her shoulder and without the slightest hint of fear that would normally be found in a woman walking around alone at night in a dangerous neighborhood.

Shin just shook his head.  He still didn’t know what Yamaguchi’s story was, but he did know one thing: with her around, this school year was going to be _plenty_ interesting.


	7. When Worlds Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

Kumiko was, to put it mildly, _pissed_.

After her first week at Shirokin, when she’d started talking about giving her first test, she’d been informed that Shirokin had a unique approach to evaluating students.  Since universities would consider a diploma from Shirokin to be worthless in an admissions decision, the only thing that mattered from an academic perspective was the university entrance exam.  Since Shirokin students rarely sat for university exams, the school’s focus was less on academics and more on keeping the boys enrolled in the school and as much out of trouble as possible until they were mature enough to graduate and function in the working world.  Should they actually _learn_ anything, well, that was a bonus, and the grading scale was modified to reflect this philosophy, with 30% considered a passing grade.

It wasn’t that Kumiko disagreed with Shirokin’s approach to grading.  She recognized that most Shirokin students were headed for lower-level employment, where the most important skills were reliability and hard work.  Shirokin may not be doing a great job in teaching kids the finer points of academics, but Kumiko could see a clear difference in the attendance and reliability of the year three students versus the year one students.  Shirokin graduates may not look like much to an outsider, but seeing the raw material entering the school helped Kumiko recognize how valuable Shirokin was to its students.

That said, 30% was a pretty low bar.  If her students paid even the slightest bit of attention in her class, they could manage a 30%.

Kumiko looked down at the lyrics to Morning Musume, which Noda had written down instead of the answer to a question that only required knowledge of _basic addition_ , and snarled, “Those _assholes_!  I’m going to _kill them_!”

Minoru looked up from the magazine he was reading.  “Uh, Ojou?  What are you doing?”

“Grading tests,” Kumiko gritted out, dragging a giant red X over the not-at-all-accurate self-portrait Noda had sketched as an answer for another question.

“Ugh,” Minoru said.  “That sounds awful.”  He picked up Noda’s paper with its bright red zero at the top of the page and laughed.

Kumiko snapped her head up and glared at him.

“Sorry, sorry!” he said.  “It’s just… he’s kinda creative, at least.”

Kumiko snatched Noda’s test away and slapped it down on the stack of other failed exams.  So far that stack contained the _entire class_.  “Damn those brats!  I’m not going to let them get away with this!”

The phone rang, interrupting her rant.  Snarling under breath, Kumiko stalked over to the phone.  She had to pause to take a deep breath before she could answer with a semblance of calm.  “Hello?”

A minute later she slammed the phone down.  “Minoru!  Get me Tetsu.  We’ve got some business.”

She stalked toward the door, trusting that Tetsu would meet her at the door.  She was more than ready to kick some ass.

“What’s going on, Ojou?” Tetsu asked as they slid on their shoes.

“Trouble at Yasue nee-san’s.  The bouncer’s helping out with Wakamatsu, so it’s just the ladies there tonight.”

Tetsu nodded.  “Car or scooter?”

“Scooter.  It’ll be faster and it sounds like they need help now.”

~~~

While most yakuza gangs specialized in one area of crime or another, nearly everyone at least dabbled in prostitution.  It wasn’t the biggest earner out there, but it was recession-proof and the sex trade provided some fringe benefits for yakuza members and corrupt cops beyond traditional profit.

Like everyone else, the Kuroda family operated a series of hostess clubs, soap shops, and old-school brothels.  Unlike everyone else, Kuroda’s sex trade was run by a woman, and Wakamatsu Yasue had very strict rules about how she ran her business.  All of her girls were drug free and none were ever asked to do something against their will.  She taught them etiquette and self-defense, as well as style and the arts of pleasing men.  All of the hostesses were paid a living wage and those who were available for additional services were paid even more, on top of being allowed to keep all of their tips, which could easily double their income for the night.

The results of Yasue’s approach were the most popular – and most expensive – brothels in town, as the girls were confident, in good physical condition, and genuinely enthusiastic about meeting their client’s desires.  Her financial contribution to the kumi was significantly higher than most sex operations, and members of the kumi got steep discounts on services as well.  Occasionally one of them would even end up married to his favorite girl, which made both Grandpa and Yasue happy.  Yakuza family ties were stronger when they were reinforced with bonds of blood.

Because of her connection to the yakuza, Yasue rarely had trouble in her clubs.  No doubt that was why she’d thought it would be safe to send her bouncer along with Wakamatsu.

Clearly today was the exception, because a couple of unhappy looking gentlemen were leaving Yasue’s club when Kumiko and Tetsu pulled up.  Kumiko left the keys in the bike – no one in this neighborhood would be stupid enough to try and steal her scooter – and marched into the club, Tetsu close behind.

She heard shouting the moment she stepped inside.  “What the fuck did you say, you bitch?  Go on, say it one more time!”

“I’ll say it as many times as you want,” a female voice snapped back.  Despite the situation, Kumiko smiled.  That definitely sounded like a Yasue girl.  “Get the hell out of here!  You’re bothering the other customers!”

“Is that how a hooker is supposed to treat a man?” the man said, and Kumiko entered the main room just in time to see an obviously drunk man shove a heavy-set, older woman into the bar.

The woman went down hard against the bar, but stood right up again.  She was already bleeding from a cut on her face, but that didn’t stop her from socking the guy right in the jaw.

“Oooh, shit,” one of Yasue’s other girls murmured.  “She’s done it now.”

The angry customer wiped the side of his mouth.  “You fucking whore.”  He grabbed a bottle off of the bar.  “I’ll show you how to treat your betters!”

Before he could swing the bottle down, Kumiko grabbed his wrist, hard enough to make him cry out in pain.  “I think you’ve had enough,” she said, taking the bottle away.

A man – presumably the angry customer’s friend – got into Kumiko’s personal space.  “Are you stupid, bitch?”

There may have been a diplomatic response to that, but Kumiko was flat out done taking people’s shit.  She didn’t even bother to let go of the angry customer before slamming her foot into the new guy’s face, breaking his nose.

Both men were now whimpering messes, but Kumiko wanted to make it very clear how unacceptable this behavior was at Yasue’s, so she turned to Tetsu.  “Tetsu, take these guys outside and teach them some manners.”

“Sure thing, Ojou.”  Tetsu wrapped an arm around each of the now-terrified looking hooligans and escorted them outside.

The moment he was gone, Kumiko was mobbed by grateful girls, hugging her and offering drinks.  The plump woman who was being beaten came up and bowed.  “Thank you very much for helping me.”

“No problem,” Kumiko said.  “Are you okay?  It’s good that you stood up for yourself, but you don’t want to get injured.”

The woman blushed.  “I know, but I just can’t help myself.  Guys like that drive me nuts.”

“Ojou, this is Sayuri-san,” Yasue said.  “She’s been working here for about a month.”  Off Kumiko’s confused look – woman as old as Sayuri weren’t exactly Yasue’s typical employee – Yasue added, “She’s raising her son all by herself.”

Ah, that made sense.  Yasue was like Kumiko – she tended to bring home strays.

Looking a bit more closely at Sayuri, though, Kumiko couldn’t help but feel that she looked familiar.  “Have we met before?”

Sayuri smiled wryly.  “I think I’d remember.”

“Must be my imagination.”  Kumiko frowned and thought about the pile of dreadful exams she still had to grade.  “Well, I’ve got to get back.  I’ll leave Tetsu here till closing – let him know if you need anything.”

A chorus of thanks followed her out the door.

~~~

The next day, Kumiko let her killing aura have free rein as she stomped through the school.  The classroom was as noisy as usual when she entered, but the boys – who did have perfectly good survival instincts, even if they didn’t always listen to them – quickly quieted down at the look on her face.

“Uh,” Noda said.  “You mad or something?”

Kumiko slammed the tests down on her desk.  “I’d like to return the end of semester exams.”

A few boys chuckled nervously.

Kumiko snatched the top sheet off of the pile.  “Top marks go to Sawada Shin with ninety-eight out of one hundred.”

“Bullshit,” Sawada said.  “What did I get wrong?”

Kumiko rolled her eyes.  “You forgot the deciliter mark.  Units matter, you know.”

He snorted.  “I bet you scoured the exam to find something to mark me down on.”

Kumiko bit back a smile; she was not going to be appeased, damn it.  “You’re the one who made a kindergartener error.”  She pulled the next sheet off of the pile.  “Second place is Kubo with seventy-five out of one hundred.”

 

Kubo looked astonished.  So did the rest of the class.  Kumiko couldn’t blame them; she wasn’t entirely sure that Kubo had been in his right mind when he took the exam.  Not like she was going to narc on the kid, but she was starting to think he was on drugs.

“Uh, Yankumi,” Noda said.  “You’re not going to call out everyone’s grades, are you?”

“I’d rather shoot myself,” she retorted.  “The class average is twenty-one percent!  Everyone under thirty percent fails.  That’s eighteen of you!”

She paused and took a deep breath to get herself back under control.  “I’m giving everyone who failed a second chance with another exam next Monday.”

The classroom burst into cries of dismay.

Undeterred, Kumiko powered on, “I’m also holding after-school tutorials for everyone who has to retake the exam.”

The dismayed cries took on a distinctly pissed-off tone.

“Hey!” Kumiko shouted.  “You need thirty percent to graduate and get a job and most of you aren’t there yet.”  She held up a test and jabbed a finger at it.  “Some of you can’t even do basic math!”

“What the fuck does it matter?” Minami asked.  “It’s not like we’re going to college or anything.  What do we need math for if we’re just working in a factory?”

Kumiko slapped Minami’s test right into his face.  “What shop is going to hire a guy who can’t even add?”

Minami glared at his test for a second before shouting, “Fine, then!  I’ll just join the yakuza.”

A few people snickered, but Kumiko could barely hear them over her boiling rage.  “Don’t you dare look down on the yakuza life, you asshole,” she growled.  “Someone brainless, ugly and weak will never be used for anything other than cannon fodder.  Their lives are so worthless the papers won’t even report their dead bodies washing up in the harbor.”

There was a stunned silence.

_Oh, shit_ , Kumiko thought as she stared at her students’ shocked faces.  Uh…  “Just kidding!” she cried out.  “That was my yakuza impression!  What did you think?”

The class continued to stare.

“Anyway, that’s the story.  Tutorial starts today, okay?  Everyone who failed the test should come right after school.”

Not sure what else to do, she promptly fled the room.  Behind her, she could the class break out in murmurs.

Shit, what had she done?

~~~

Kumiko hid in the teacher’s lounge until the end of the class.  Fujiyama showed up almost immediately.  “Math tutorials?  Don’t you think that’s a waste of time?”

Kumiko growled, her anxiety immediately swamped with fury.  “You should’ve seen the answer sheets.  One guy didn’t even bother to write down a single number!  Some of them can’t even add, much less subtract, multiply or divide!”

Another teacher piped up from the door.  “Your enthusiasm is admirable, but we’ve never had a single successful tutoring session in the history of this school.  These kids don’t even show up to class.  Do you really think they’ll show up to tutoring?”

Kumiko would have liked to show that asshole how wrong he was, except… he wasn’t wrong at all.  Not one student came to the tutoring session.  She’d figured out of the eighteen she’d at least get a couple.

Feeling dispirited, she went home to let her family cheer her up.

~~~

She hadn’t quite achieved her usual level of enthusiasm by the next morning, but she was feeling better.  It was a good thing, too, as one of the first things she saw was Sayuri, asking students if they knew where Kumiko was.

Kumiko panicked.  What was Sayuri doing here?  How did she even find out where Kumiko worked?

She was still panicking when Sayuri stepped around the corner and saw her.  Sayuri’s eyes widened.  “Hey!  You’re Kuroda’s oj—”

Sayuri’s voice cut off into a squawk as Kumiko hooked an arm around her neck and dragged her outside to the narrow space between the school and the gym.

Once they were safely out of sight, Kumiko let Sayuri go and fell back against the wall.  Sayuri dropped to the ground, panting and Kumiko felt a pang of guilt.  “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Sayuri said.  “Just surprised.  She leaned back on her heels.  “Yasue-mama said you were a teacher, but it never occurred to me that you might be teaching my son.”

Suddenly, Kumiko realized why Sayuri looked so familiar.  “You’re Kumai Teruo’s mom!”  She frowned.  “Wait, is Kuma okay?”

“He’s fine.  I’m just here to pay the rest of the school fees and, well, I couldn’t trust that much money to Teruo.”

“Fair enough,” Kumiko conceded.

“Still, it’s amazing that you are able to be a full time teacher, when you still have to take care of the kum—”

This time Kumiko restrained herself to a hand over Sayuri’s mouth.  “Shut up!  You can’t talk about that stuff here!”

“Oh, crap, sorry!  I swear I won’t tell Teruo about—”

“Hey!  What’s going on here?”

Both women spun around to see Sawada leaning against the side of the gym.  If this weren’t such a dangerous situation, Kumiko would’ve laughed; Sawada’s slouch was so obviously staged to look casual that it had the opposite effect.

Sayuri didn’t seem to notice, as her eyes were wide as saucers when she exclaimed, “Shin-chan!”

Sawada lifted her chin.  “Kumai-san, do you know our teacher?”

Sayuri immediately started blustering about how they kinda, sorta, maybe knew each other, but it wasn’t close or anything and besides…

Thankfully Kuma arrived at this point, screaming, “Yankumi, you bitch!  How dare you beat up my mom just because I’m skipping your tutorials?  What kind of teacher are you?”

Before Kumiko could think of a word to say, Sayuri socked her son in the jaw.  “Teruo, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“M-mom?” Kuma said, sounding as shocked as Kumiko felt.  Sure, Sayuri had mentioned having a temper, but Kumiko would never have imagined that translating to hitting her son.  No one at the kumi had ever laid a hand on Kumiko, except to teach her to fight, and even then they pulled their punches.

Sayuri wasn’t done yelling.  “This teacher of yours helped me when I was being attacked by a gang of drunken hooligans!  She saved my life!”

Kuma gaped at Kumiko.  “Really?  How?”

Sayuri’s temper was abruptly replaced with open admiration.  “Actually, it was absolutely fascinating.  There was this geta she was—”

Kumiko cleared her throat pointedly.

“…was, er, wearing and it went… flying, like a geta and some scared scary people were there and… and, anyway!  Why aren’t you in class?  Get to class now and start studying!  Study!”

Kuma opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before turning on his heel and walked off, still looking confused.

Shin, who had been shaking his head throughout Sayuri’s incomprehensible explanation, lifted an eyebrow.  “Violent drunks, huh?  You really do like to get your ass in trouble.”  He stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled after Kuma.

Sayuri winced.  “They do really lack manners, but they’re good kids underneath.”

Kumiko smiled, her bad mood now utterly gone.  “Don’t worry, Sayuri-san.  I’ve got experience in judging people for how they are, rather than how they look or speak.”

Sayuri smiled.  “Of course!  You must be a pro at judging character, Ojou.”

“Uh, right.  Listen, I need you to stop calling me Ojou at school.”

“Whatever you say, Ojou!”

~~~

On the day after the Sayuri incident, Kumiko sat alone in her classroom and wondered how long she should wait before giving up on the tutorials. 

Fujiyama poked her head in the window, a lit cigarette in hand.  “I can’t believe you’re still here.”

Kumiko sighed.  “I know.  But I’m the one who arranged the tutorials, so I need to be here in case someone shows.”

There was a noise and Fujiyama pulled her head out of the window to glance down the outside corridor.  “Huh.  I guess it was worth the wait.”

Kumiko sat up straighter.  “You mean…”

The door to the classroom opened and a handful of boys walked in.  “Hey,” Noda said.

“We’re here for the tutorial,” Kuma said.  “But I’m telling you right now, I broke up with math when fraction showed up and we’re not getting back together!”

“And I came, but I’m not going to listen,” Minami called from the back of the room, where he had actually turned a desk around so that his back was to Kumiko.

Kumiko dropped her head and wondered if this was better or worse than no one showing up at all.


	8. The Thief and the Chief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

In Shin’s defense, he didn’t know about Minami’s idiotic plan until it was too late.  Of course, he’d heard about the “high school aged” thief who was terrorizing the neighborhood, and he knew that the other students were pissed about the police hanging about the school, implying that they thought a Shirokin student was responsible.  Since Shin figured it was a 50-50 chance that a Shirokin student _was_ responsible (and the doubt came more from the thief’s remarkable work ethic – five thefts in one week! – than from any doubt that there was a Shirokin student capable of attacking the elderly) he mostly ignored the drama for the first few days, and then used it as an excuse to stay home on Friday.

On Saturday night, he got a call from Minami.  “Shin!  We’ve got a problem.”

Shin flipped over on his bed and let his head fall down on his pillow.  “What problem?” he sighed into the phone.

“Noda and Ucchi have been arrested.”

Shin shoved himself upright.  “What?  When?  _Why?_ ”

Minami told Shin the entire sorry story.  The saddest part wasn’t that Minami managed to get multiple boys to join him in skulking around the neighborhood at night – the same neighborhood where they were _already suspected_ of being the thief.  It wasn’t even that they had made no progress on identifying the thief or even in figuring out where or how the thief found his victims.  No, the saddest part was that they were arrested for sitting in an alley while _arguing about being arrested_.

Shin ground the heel of his hand into his forehead and tried to figure out what to do.  Calling his father was obviously out of the question.  Unfortunately, that didn’t leave a lot of options, because they’d need an adult to get Noda and Ucchi out of jail and the only other adults Shin knew were teachers…

Shin abruptly straightened.  “Minami, I need you to call Yamaguchi.”

There was a long pause.  “Um.  I don’t think I heard that right.”

“If we don’t do something fast, they’re going to call the school, or maybe their parents.  We need an adult to go in and get them out before that happens.”

“Well, okay, but… Yankumi?  Really?”

“Minami!”

“Fine!  I’ll call her.”

Shin let out a sigh of relief.  “Okay, good.  I’ll meet you at the police station and help you explain everything to Yamaguchi when she shows up.”

“You’d better,” Minami said, then hung up.

Shin tossed the phone aside and went to get dressed.

He was halfway to the police station before it occurred to him that he’d never once questioned whether Yamaguchi would come.

~~~

Minami was hunched up on the sidewalk next to the police station when Shin showed up.  “Were you able to get ahold of her?”

“Yeah,” Minami said.  “She yelled.”

“I’m sure,” Shin said dryly.  “She’s still coming, though, right?”

“Yeah.”

Less than five minutes later, Yamaguchi’s car pulled up to the curb and she stepped out, wearing pajamas and a leather jacket, with her hair pulled back into a single ponytail.

Shin felt an odd lurch in his chest and swallowed hard.  Must’ve eaten too much ramen at dinner.

“All right,” Yamaguchi said, crossing her arms.  “What happened?”

Minami told the story again, Yamaguchi looking more and more exasperated as the tale unfolded.  “And then I called Shin,” Minami finally said.  “He told me to call you before the police called the parents or the school.”

Yamaguchi glanced over at Shin, who looked away.  Not that it did him any good, as she hooked an arm around his neck and ruffled his hair.  “Good job, Initial-S!”

“Cut it out,” Shin muttered, fighting the urge to rub the growing ache in his chest.

She let him go.  “Okay!  Time to go in and get back our boys, no matter what!”

Minami stared.  “Um, you can just go in and ask for them, right?  I mean, you are a teacher.”

It was too late – Yamaguchi was already storming the station.  Shin sighed and trotted up the stairs after her.

Inside the station, everyone behaved pretty much the way Shin had expected: the police made unwarranted accusations; Minami tried to start a fight; and Yamaguchi threw around slang from yakuza movies and almost ruined everything by getting too enthusiastic.

Eventually Yamaguchi talked the police into letting Noda and Ucchi go by pointing out that the police couldn’t hold onto minors without evidence.  As they were waiting for Noda and Ucchi to come out, the detective said, “We’re counting on you to keep an eye on these boys.  There’s still a really good chance they’re guilty.”

“Of course,” Yamaguchi said brightly.

Shin eyed her suspiciously.

“And,” the detective added, “I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about Shirokin students _or staff_ going around trying to catch the thief.  That is the job of the police.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Yamaguchi answered.

_Oh shit_ , Shin thought.

They were less than a block away from the police station when Yamaguchi shrieked, “Did you hear those assholes!”

Noda, Minami, and Ucchi all startled back.  Shin, who had been waiting for something like this, sighed.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” she added in only a slightly lower voice.  “We’re going to find this thieving bastard no matter what!”

“Um,” Noda said.

“But they just told you not to,” Minami said.

“Who gives a shit what they think?” Yamaguchi snapped back.

“What’s your plan?” Shin asked.

“A decoy, of course.”

“I thought they only attacked the elderly,” Noda said.

“Do we know anyone old, wealthy, and wimpy?” Ucchi asked.

“The principal!” Minami said.

“Yes!” Yamaguchi answered, “The principal!”

“…do you think he’ll do it, though?” Minami asked.

“I’d like to see him say no to me,” Yamaguchi answered.

Shin cleared his throat.  “You might want to consider: if the real thief _is_ from Shirokin, do you think they’re going to attack the principal?”

Everyone looked struck by this thought.  Including Yamaguchi.  Shin shook his head.  Yamaguchi might be able to pound her way through a warehouse full of thugs, but she was clearly incapable of planning her way out of a paper bag.

She marginally redeemed herself when she remembered that a woman had been one of the people attacked and offered herself up as bait instead.  Not that there weren’t flaws in the plan – especially since Yamaguchi was determined to keep her strength level quiet – but at least there wouldn’t be any vulnerable people in danger and the worst possible outcome was that the thief didn’t try to rob Yamaguchi.  From the police detective’s perspective, that might actually be the _best_ outcome.

“Right!  We’ll start tomorrow night.  Meet me in front of the school.”  With that, Yamaguchi went off to her car and, presumably, home to get some sleep.

As one, the three other boys turned to Shin.  “Sure,” he said.  “Maybe it’ll work.”  Admittedly, he didn’t think it _would_ work, but it wouldn’t necessarily hurt to try.

Besides, he was desperately curious to see what Yamaguchi considered a “disguise”.

~~~

Sixteen hours later, Yamaguchi showed up as… herself.  Except for the blonde hooker wig and the knockoff purse, she looked exactly as she always did, right down to the tracksuit.

The guys – including Kuma, who’d insisted on participating once he heard Shin was going – stared at Yamaguchi with looks of horror.  As they exclaimed over the wig and the fake purse and _“that_ wig _, what the hell is up with that, that is clearly a hooker’s wig”_ , Shin felt a sensation that he hadn’t felt in a long time, a warm bubbling fizz in his chest that travelled up and came out as… laughter.

He put his hand over his face to hide it, but he couldn’t stop the soft laughter – almost giggles – that were coming out of his mouth.

When was the last time he’d laughed like this?  When was the last time he’d felt this light and happy and _enthusiastic_?  Years, at least.

He’d just about gotten the laughter under control when Yamaguchi started out to demonstrate her “please attack me” walk, which involved tiptoeing down the street while shaking her butt.

Shin dissolved into laughter again.

By the time he recovered, Kuma had pulled out a bag of food.  “Anyone want a snack?”

They’d been on the stakeout for less than five minutes, but hot pot wasn’t nearly as good when it was cold and, besides, Shin figured the most useful thing he could do in this endeavor was keep the other guys out of the way.  With Yamaguchi determined to keep her secrets, their presence would just be a liability.

They were nearly finished with the food when they heard a female’s voice – _not_ Yamaguchi’s – shrieking, “Help!  Thief!”

_Crap_ , Shin thought, sprinting toward the voice.  He hadn’t considered that they might have to rescue some stranger from the thief.

Fortunately, by the time they had the thief in sight, the original victim was long gone and Yamaguchi was calling out for help, despite the fact that she clearly had the thief subdued. 

Of course, Shin’s friends had never been particularly observant, and threw themselves into the fray as if Yamaguchi were actually in danger.  Shin held back as Ucchi, Noda, and Minami jumped the thief, with Kuma throwing himself on the top of the pile.  Shin and Yamaguchi, who had gotten herself clear the moment the tackling started, winced.

“All right,” Shin called over the noise of the squished boys complaining about Kuma.  “Get off him so we can see who he is.”

The thief was unconscious by the time all four boys got off of him – not surprising – and Shin was the one to pull off his face mask.  “Who is it?” Yamaguchi asked from behind Shin.  “Is it one of our students?”

“No,” Shin answered.

“Yeah, no,” Minami agreed.  “He’s not a student at all.”

“What?  Are you sure?”

“Completely sure,” Minami said.  “This guy is _old_.”

Shin shifted the side so Yamaguchi could see the thief.  In the process, he noticed that she’d taken off the blonde wig and her hair was in a long braid.  He swallowed and looked away quickly, fighting an urge to rub his aching chest.

“Okay,” she said, stepping back.  “Good job, guys.  I’ll leave the next steps to you.”

“Wait, what?” Noda said.  “The next steps are calling the police and proving we weren’t the thief.”

“Exactly.”

Noda looked baffled.  “But those are the _good_ steps.”

“I was specifically told to stay away by the police,” Yamaguchi answered.  “Best if I’m not here when they come.”

Shin didn’t think that was the real reason for her sudden shyness, but he’d already promised to help her keep her secrets and this was clearly one of them.  “It’s not a big deal.  We could say we heard a woman screaming while we were eating a snack.”  That had the benefit of being true.  “The woman was so scared by the experience that she ran away before the police arrived.”  That might have a nugget of truth to it; Yamaguchi clearly had some sort of issue with the police.  It wasn’t a big enough deal to stop her from bailing out her students, but it was enough to keep her from taking any sort of credit for stopping a notorious thief.

Ucchi went to look for a pay phone to call the police while the rest of the guys hung around the unconscious thief, just in case he woke up and tried to escape.

“Yankumi… she’s kinda weird, isn’t she?” Minami said thoughtfully.

There was a general murmur of agreement.

“But she came to bail Noda and Ucchi out of jail.”

“She did?” Kuma asked, sounding surprised.

“She did,” Noda said.

There was a long pause before Minami said, “You know, I never thought I’d say this about a teacher, but… she’s all right.”

After a shocked moment or two, there was another general murmur of agreement.

Shin turned his head away to hide his smile.  Even if they didn’t know all of her secrets, Yamaguchi was winning over her class.

For some reason his belly warmed at the thought and he sat on the sidewalk feeling more content than he had in years.

~~~

That warm feeling continued.  Shirokin had their first ever positive headline in the newspaper, putting all of the teachers in a good mood.  Shin’s friends (and Shin himself) were heroes of the school, which put them in a good mood.  And Yamaguchi’s help with the capture (and with bailing out Noda and Ucchi) had spread throughout the school, resulting in higher attendance and greater respect in her classes, which put _her_ in a good mood.

All in all, it was the best time he’d ever had in his academic career.

By the time winter rolled around, no one was surprised to see Shin show up at school every day.  Most days he even stayed awake, though music class continued to serve as his midday nap.

Yamaguchi, high on her newfound popularity with students, had started offering math tutorials after school twice a week and a few students were actually attending regularly.  Kuma, possibly out of fear of his mother, never missed, which was why Shin was surprised to see him riding around on a scooter one day in late November.  “Shin!” Kuma called out, waving as he pulled to a stop.

“You’re skipping the math tutorial?”

Kuma shrugged.  “Yankumi called it off.  Some sort of emergency or something.”

Shin didn’t like the sound of that, but Kuma, while loyal to a fault, wasn’t very good at either observation or thinking.  It was unlikely he’d know any more about this emergency.

For lack of a better option, he let the issue go and asked for a ride.  “Sure!” Kuma said, scooting forward to give Shin more room.

When they turned the corner at the back of the school, Kuma stopped at the sight of a black sedan parked on the side of the street.  “That’s not a good sign.”

Shin had to agree.  The car screamed yakuza even before the door opened and a thickset thug in a suit stepped out.  Another guy, thinner but covered in scars, stepped out on the other side.

“Shit,” Shin breathed.

“I think we should go a different way,” Kuma said, awkwardly turning the scooter around.

Shin glanced back and saw a woman in a black tracksuit jump over the wall that marked the boundary behind the school.

“Hey,” he called to Kuma.  “Stop!”

Kuma stopped the scooter and climbed off to look back as the woman glanced around and then jumped into the black car.

“Was that Yankumi?” Kuma asked.

“I… think so,” Shin said.  Except there was no “think” about it.  That was _definitely_ Yamaguchi and she _definitely_ just got into a yakuza car!

“Shin!  What was that about?”

Shin jumped on the scooter.  “I don’t know, but I’m going after them.”

“What?  Wait!  I’ll come, too.”  Kuma climbed on the back and held on as Shin floored the accelerator.

“Those guys were yakuza!” Kuma shouted in Shin’s ear, barely audible over the traffic noise.  “What the hell would Yankumi have to do with them?”

“I don’t know,” Shin said back.  _But there’s always been something off about her_ , he thought to himself.

The sedan had a good head start and a higher top speed, but the scooter was able to maneuver better through congestion, so Shin and Kuma weren’t too far behind when the car pulled to a stop in front of the prison.

“Holy shit,” Kuma breathed.

Shin had to agree.  He slowed the scooter to a stop near the outer gates, where they would be able to glance into the prison courtyard without being seen.  Kuma’s buzzed blond hair was slightly less noticeable than Shin’s red hair, so Shin let him be lookout.

“Another car just showed up,” Kuma reported after a few minutes. 

“And Yamaguchi?”

“Still in the black car.”  Kuma hesitated.  “If it’s like those yakuza movies, they’re probably waiting for someone to get released today.  Maybe a boss or a chief.  Oh!”

Shin sat up.  “What?”

“Someone’s coming out!”

Too impatient to wait for Kuma’s report, Shin looked over Kuma’s shoulder to see a large metal door opening.  He could hear, very faintly, a gruff voice say, “Thanks for having me, fellas.”

A second later, a tall man with blond hair and a scarred face came stepping out.  He was sharply dressed in a white suit with a black shirt, and a pair of sunglasses partially obscured the long scar that looked like it went through his left eye.

“Oh my God,” Kuma choked out.

“Damn,” Shin breathed.

The small crowd of yakuza members who had emerged from the two cars in the courtyard burst out in cheers for the “young chief”.  Several of them seemed to be crying. 

“Welcome back!” the thug in a suit said as everyone bowed in unison.

The young chief asked after everyone as someone gave him a cigarette and lit it for him. 

Shin wondered just how high up the yakuza ladder you had to be to not have to carry or light your own cigarettes.

“How about Ojou?” the chief asked as he let out a breath of smoke.

There was a loud slam and Shin looked over to see that Yamaguchi was now standing next to the car.  “Welcome back,” she said.

He could hear the smile in her voice and something ugly and dark clenched in his gut.

“Ojou,” the chief breathed, pulling off his glasses.  He turned on his own men and started to beat them.  “What kind of idiots would bring Ojou to a place like this?”

“Give ‘em a break,” Yamaguchi said and the chief immediately stopped whaling on his men.  “I asked them to bring me here.”

“Ojou,” the man said, and it looked like he was definitely tearing up as he stepped closer to Yamaguchi, close enough that Shin couldn’t hear what she said next.

Suddenly the chief bowed to Yamaguchi and Shin couldn’t hear _anything_ over the rushing sound in his ears.

A tugging on his arm got his attention and he looked to see Kuma dragging him to the scooter.  “We have to go,” Kuma said.  “They’ll see us.”

Shin shook his head, snapping back to attention.  “Right.  We have to follow them.”

Kuma hesitated.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Yes,” Shin lied immediately.  “Get on the scooter.”

Shin drove again, though this time he was much more careful to stay several cars back.  It took nearly thirty minutes for the cars to reach their destination: a large, beautiful house in the traditional style, with “Third Generation Kuroda Family” printed on the windows of the front door.

“That’s a yakuza house,” Kuma squeaked from where they were crouched behind a set of bushes.

It certainly was.  Shin had never seen one in person before, but there was no question about what this building housed.

Still, he didn’t say anything and he didn’t move to leave.

“It’s dangerous here,” Kuma added after a stretch of silence.  “We should go home, Shin.  We’re going to be in deep shit if they find us.”

Shin considered the idea of leaving without answering the question of what Yamaguchi was doing here and shook his head.  “You go home.  I’ll make my own way.”

Kuma sighed.  “Shin-chan…”

Shin kept staring at the house.

There were some rustling noises as Kuma sat down.  “I wonder why Yankumi was at the prison.  Maybe that scary guy was her dad.”  There was a pause.  “Though they don’t look anything alike.  Maybe he’s her… husband?”

Shin grit his teeth.  “That’s what I wanna know, damn it!”

“Shin… why do you want to know so bad?”

A low growling noise saved Shin from having to answer.  He looked up to see a man-shaped mountain looming over them, radiating menace.

“Who the fuck are you?” the mountain shouted.

Kuma squeaked and grabbed onto Shin.

Shin swallowed hard.

The man grabbed each of them by their collar and hauled them up like they weighed nothing, even Kuma.  They had no choice but to stumble along with him as he dragged them to the front door and tossed them both into the room with enough force that they slammed against the opposite wall.

The suited thug from earlier was sitting on a couch.  “Tetsu?  Who are these brats?”

“I caught them spying on us,” the man mountain – presumably Tetsu – answered.

The room erupted in fury.  Shin tried not to flinch back as men shouted questions at them, asking what kumi they were from and if they were ready to die.

A calm, clear voice cut across the tumult.  “Stop it.”

“Ojou?” the suited thug asked.

Shin swallowed hard.  He thought he’d misheard that at the prison, but he didn’t.  These men were calling Yamaguchi “ojou”.

“Y-Y-Y-Yankumi?” Kuma stuttered, sounding like he was having a heart attack.

Yamaguchi stood in the doorway to the room, her hair in pigtails, and dressed in a sweater and jeans.  Her arms were crossed and she appeared calm, if a little irritated.  “They’re my students.”

“Really?”  The suited thug pointed at Kuma.  “Even this one?”

Shin ignored the commentary, his entire attention on Yamaguchi.  “Ojou?” he breathed.

She scowled, but didn’t answer.

Shin glared back, feeling his stubbornness rising.  “What do they mean by ‘ojou’?” he asked sharply.

“So you’re still here,” a gruff voice said and Shin looked to see the chief stepping into the room.  “I told you there’s no use coming here, Ojou- _chan_.”  The chief sneered the title.

“Aniki!” the suited thug cried out, sounding horrified.

There was a long awkward moment where Shin got the distinct impression that no one knew what to do next.

Suddenly there was a loud crack as the chief slapped Yamaguchi across the face.  “You know you have to pay back the debt!” the chief shouted.

All of the gangsters in the room cried out dismay.

Yamaguchi bent over, covering her cheek with one hand.  The chief rested a hand on her back.  With his other hand, he repeatedly hit the hand on Yamaguchi’s back.  It made a terrific slapping noise, but Yamaguchi probably couldn’t even feel it.

You wouldn’t know that from how the room reacted.  Kuma was staring with open-mouthed horror and all of the gangsters – even the chief – were sobbing openly.

Shin opened his mouth, but this situation was so surreal he couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

He was shocked when Kuma shouted, “Stop it!”

The chief let out an obvious sigh of relief before turning to Kuma.  “Say what?”

Kuma gaped and then curled to the side.  “N-nothing.”

Both the chief and Yamaguchi looked frustrated.  Shin didn’t blame them.  This was like really bad dinner theater, where half of the actors forgot their lines.

“Fine!” the chief said.  “If you say it that way, I’ll let her off.  Get out of here before I change my mind.”

Kuma was out the door in a flash, which was fortunate, as it meant he didn’t see Yamaguchi taking a winter coat out of the hall closet.  Shin raised his eyebrows at her and she lowered her eyebrows right back.

Out in the courtyard, Kuma vented some of his terror before asking, “What the hell are you doing borrowing money from a yakuza loan shark?”

Yamaguchi looked like it had never occurred to her that she might have to explain her connection with a yakuza family.  “Uh… my… father.  Died.  Um.”

“Your father died in debt?” Kuma asked earnestly.  “So did mine.”  He hung his head a little.  “I didn’t realize you were going through some trouble, too.”

“Right,” Yamaguchi said, looking intensely awkward.  “Um.  Yeah.”

She glanced at Shin, but he was too busy putting pieces together to rescue her from her own mess.

Kuma just smiled and shrugged and offered to get the scooter.

Leaving Shin and Yamaguchi alone.

“It was you at the Tenkai offices, wasn’t it?” Shin said quietly.  “You were dressed as a yakuza woman, but I thought it looked like you.”

Yamaguchi glanced away, looking like she was trying to come up with an explanation other than the correct one.

Fuck that.  “You realize that Kuma’s the only person who would’ve fallen for that lame act in there.  Your chief was slapping his own hand.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes hardened and Shin felt a rising tide of menace.

“I’m not threatening you,” Shin said hastily.  “I won’t tell anyone.”  He let out a small smile as Kuma pulled up on the scooter.  “After all, if you get fired, school’s going to get boring again.”

He climbed on the scooter.  Yamaguchi didn’t say anything as they pulled away.

Probably for the best.  Shin already had a _lot_ to think about.


	9. Hard Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks for my beta, CappuccettoRosso!

The next morning, Kumiko prepared for work the way one would prepare for war.  She woke up early, packed her favorite tracksuit, and put her hair in a practical ponytail, rather than her usual pigtails. 

She was putting on her shoes when Kyoutaro came out, dressed in sweats and a robe.  “You’re up early,” he said.

“So are you,” Kumiko said, standing up and smiling at him.  She still felt an overwhelming wave of affection every time she saw him.  Undoubtedly that would revert back to her usual irritable fondness as she was reminded of his less savory aspects, but for now all she could think was that her father was home.

He shrugged.  “Habit from jail.  You oversleep, you don’t get breakfast.  Speaking of.”  He wacked on the wall.  “Tetsu, Minoru!  Get your asses down here to cook some breakfast for Ojou!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kumiko said hastily.  “I don’t have time to eat.”

He frowned at her.  “Why’re you going in so early, anyway?”

She laughed without humor.  “I need to talk to the principal first thing, before anyone else arrives.”

Kyou looked shocked.  “Why?”

Kumiko sighed.  “I spent a lot of time thinking last night.  It’s been less than a year, and already at least one of my students knows about my background.  Sooner or later everyone else will find out, too, so…”  She shrugged.

“So you wanna get to the principal before and make sure he doesn’t talk?  I can help make that happen.”

“Uh, no.”

Kyou frowned.  “You’re not going to give him money to keep him quiet, are you?”

“No!”  She picked up her bag.  “Look, I’m just going to tell him the truth.  If that gets me fired, then so be it.”  She hefted her bag over her shoulder and smiled at him.  “Wish me luck.”

He just looked serious as she turned to walk away.

~~~

By the time she got to the school, she was feeling a lot less confident.  She bought herself a few more minutes by changing into her tracksuit, but she was also well aware that every minute that passed brought her closer to the arrival of students.

The principal’s door never looked so intimidating.

Kumiko took a deep breath and knocked, part of her hoping that the principal hadn’t arrived yet.

A voice instantly called out, “Come in!”

No such luck.  Kumiko sighed, opened the door, and found herself facing a half-naked man.

“You’re early, Yamaguchi-sensei,” the principal said, as if he weren’t standing there pants-less.

“You perverted bastard!” Kumiko shouted, shoving him back against the wall.

The principal slipped to the floor and held up his hand.  “Wait!  It’s not what you think!  I fell and hit my hip this morning.  I was just applying a cold pack.”

“Then say that!”  Kumiko shouted.  “Don’t say just tell someone to come in!”

“Didn’t you come here to speak to me about something?” he asked, sounding a little desperate.

Whoops.  Maybe not the best time to assault the principal, no matter how much she had been provoked.  Kumiko pulled him to his feet and dusted him off before standing straight and tall and announcing, “I have to tell you something.”

“What?” the principal asked, grabbing his pants.

While he dressed, Kumiko told him the whole story, about her yakuza roots, about how her mother left the kumi to marry her father, about how her grandfather took her back into the kumi after her parents died.  When she was done, she took a deep breath.  “So that’s the story.  I’m not a yakuza member but my grandfather is a yakuza kumichou.”

“Okay,” the principal said.  “Is that all?”

Kumiko gaped at him.  “You knew?”

“Of course I knew.  That’s the reason why I hired you.”

Kumiko gaped some more.  “ _What?_ ”

“I thought you’d be a good fit,” he said.  “A teacher with a yakuza background would be able to see the best in our students.  Besides, unlike most female teachers, you wouldn’t let the students walk all over you.  Neither would Fujiyama-sensei.  I put a lot of thought into selecting the two of you.  Most female teachers wouldn’t last a day here.  You two have lasted for months.”

That was true.  It also made her very curious about her fellow female teacher.  “So there’s a story behind Fujiyama-sensei, too?”

“There is, but that’s her story to tell.”

That was fair.  Kumiko stared at the principal.  “You know, I didn’t think you…”

“You didn’t think I thought that far ahead?”

Kumiko had to agree.

“Well, I am the principal of this school after all.  I’m always thinking of the future.”

Before Kumiko could answer that, there was a bang at the door.  The principal frowned and went to open it.  Kyou and Wakamatsu were on the other side.

The principal squeaked and stumbled back.

“Kyou-san!  Wakamatsu!  What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry,” Kyou said, “but I was worried that they were going to fire you.”

“The young chief said we ought to teach the school a lesson if they fired you, so…”

The principal squeaked again.  Kumiko turned and made the introductions.  “I see,” the principal said faintly.

Kumiko turned back to her family.  “It’s okay.  The principal understands everything and I’m not going to be fired.”

“Really?”  Kyou said.  He and Wakamatsu prostrated themselves.  “Principal, we owe you!” they shouted.

“Not a problem,” the principal said, still sounding overcome.  “ _Please_ , think nothing of it.”

Kumiko hustled the guys out of the office, thanked them, and sent them on their way before anyone else saw them on campus.  She still had some time to kill before school started, so she went for a walk around the building, thinking over her conversation with the principal.

Along the way, she ran into a group of boys from her class, and Kuma shared his breakfast with her.  He even tried to do it discreetly, so that none of the other boys would realize that she was too hard up for money to eat.

Of course, she wasn’t really hard up for money at all and she felt a little bad about lying to Kuma the night before.  He really was a good kid.  Whatever the principal’s reasons, she was very glad to be at Shirokin.

It was only later, as she was packing up to go home, that a thought occurred to her: why did the principal want to hire female teachers in the first place?

~~~

A few weeks later and Kumiko was no closer to figuring out the principal’s motives for hiring female teachers for an all male school.  She also wasn’t any closer to learning Fujiyama’s story, though she was astonished to learn that Fujiyama had apparently managed to get enough students to form a male chorus club after all.  Admittedly, the music was hideous and the boys were all bishonen, but just the presence of the club made it clear that the principal wasn’t underestimating Fujiyama’s strength!

Kumiko was walking with Fujiyama to pick up an instrument delivery when they saw a boy slumped against the side of the building.  Fujiyama gasped and ran to the nearest exit.  “Ichikawa-kun!” she called.  “Are you okay?”

He turned around and he was clearly _not_ okay.  His face was covered in bruises and his uniform was dirty.  “What happened?” Fujiyama exclaimed.

“Just leave me alone!” he shouted and ran off.

“Shit,” Fujiyama murmured.  She sighed and lit a cigarette, sliding down to sit on the cement patio in front of the door.

“He looked kind of weak,” Kumiko commented.  “Is he one of your second years?”

“Yeah,” Fujiyama said.

Kumiko waited a beat.  “Is he being bullied?”

Fujiyama sighed again.  “I don’t know.  He says he isn’t, and I’ve never seen him get attacked, but the kids he hangs out with like to ‘wrestle’ and he always loses.”  She stubbed out the cigarette.  “I’ve suggested that he find a group of friends that treats him better, but he keeps going back to them.”

Kumiko thought of some of the kids she’d seen over the years, inside the kumi and out.  Sometimes a kid could get bullied for so long that he internalized it.  That it became normal.  Once that happened, it could be hard to reach them.  Sometimes they grew out of it.  Sometimes they snapped.

“I just wish he’d come to us for help,” Fujiyama said.  “If he doesn’t… if he gets driven to the edge…”  She looked down.  “Watching that kid reminds me…”

She stopped.  Kumiko stared at her, surprised to hear her saying out loud what Kumiko had just been thinking.  “Fujiyama-sensei?”

“Crap!” Fujiyama exclaimed.  “The delivery!  I’ve got to go get that.  See you tomorrow!”

Kumiko frowned after her, wondering.

Over the next few days, she paid more attention to Ichikawa.  He was in her math classes, of course, but he’d always been a quiet boy in the back of the room and she’d never really registered him beyond a general appreciation for a non-disruptive student.  Now that she was paying attention, it was clear that his “friends” were really his tormentors.

Unfortunately, there was never an easy solution in a situation like this.  Kumiko tried once, interrupting their “wrestling” to show the lead bully a move of her own.  It interrupted that round of roughhousing, but it didn’t stop Ichikawa from running after the bullies, begging them not to leave him behind.

Lacking any clear answer of what to do, Kumiko continued to keep an eye out for him.  Meanwhile, Fujiyama ramped up her recruitment for the chorus club, hanging flyers all over the school.  Kumiko was walking the outside walkway when she heard some boys talking about one of the flyers on the inside corridor.  She would have kept walking, except one of the boys, Minami, said, “Speaking of Fujiyama, I heard something about her from a guy in class two.”

Kumiko paused, listening hard.

Minami, never one to need prompting to gossip, continued, “Apparently she was planning to run off with a junior-high kid at her last school.  That’s why she had to leave.”

Another boy, one she wasn’t as familiar with, said, “That’s not what I heard.”

Kumiko lifted her eyebrows and edged closer to the window.

“I heard a kid committed suicide after she messed around with him.”

Kumiko moved even closer, until she was pressed against the window, trying to hear.

Ucchi said, “I heard that she danced around in the classroom nak—what the hell?”

Everyone turned to face the window.  Kumiko slammed her fist on the class.  “You stupid idiots!  Stop your gossiping and get to class!  You ever say anything like that again and I’ll break your jaws so you can’t speak!”

The kids went running away.

“Wow, you’re going to break their jaws?”

Kumiko turned to see Fujiyama right next to her and blushed.  “I’m sorry about those kids.  They’re just gossiping about you because they think you’re attractive.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fujiyama said lightly.  “It’s partially true, after all.”

Kumiko stared.  “Not the… dancing around naked—”

“No!  But, a boy did try to commit suicide.  Of course, I hadn’t played around with him, but I sometimes wonder…”  She sighed.  “We shouldn’t talk about this here.”

“School’s out,” Kumiko said.  “Want to get a coffee?”

Fujiyama looked surprised, probably because they’d never done anything together outside of school, but she agreed readily enough and they went to a nearby café.  Fujiyama got an espresso; Kumiko an iced tea.

They sat silently for a moment or two before Kumiko nudged the conversation forward, “Was the student who attempted suicide being bullied?”

“I don’t know,” she answered.  “It was my first year and I didn’t have much experience with how kids interacted.  He was always in a group of boys and while they did tease him, it sounded like they were joking and he always laughed.”  She took a drink of coffee.  “I never realized that something was bothering him so much that he’d want to die!

“One day he swallowed a handful of sleeping pills.  He left a note and in the note he did say he was being bullied, but…  Anyway, his parents took him to the hospital right away and they pumped his stomach.  He survived.”

She lit a cigarette, in complete defiance of the no smoking sign on the table.

“A lot of people talked trash about me after that.  They said I was undependable, inappropriate, and unreliable.  They accused me of using sex appeal on the students.  After a while, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I quit teaching in the middle of the year.  Not because of what they said, though!”  She leaned forward and stabbed her cigarette at Kumiko.  “I just couldn’t believe that I missed the warning signs.  My student tried to kill himself and I had no idea he was even suffering!

“After that, I took a walkabout.  I went to Hokkaido and south to Guam...”

“You meant you went on a vacation,” Kumiko said flatly.

Fujiyama went on as if she hadn’t heard.  “What I realized on my journey was that teaching is my passion.  Whatever it takes, I want to help my students, no matter how rough they may look.”

“Fujiyama-sensei,” Kumiko breathed before nodding sharply.  “I completely agree.”

Fujiyama smiled at her.  “I know you do.  You wouldn’t have survived this long at Shirokin if you didn’t.”  She finished off her espresso.  “I have to admit, Yamaguchi-sensei, I misjudged you when we first met.  I didn’t think you’d last a week.”

Kumiko just smiled.

~~~

Kumiko thought about Fujiyama’s story all night and it was still on her mind the next day.  Her students seemed to be all right, but Fujiyama would have said the same about hers and she’d been terribly wrong.  What if Kumiko was missing something serious in her own class?

She glanced around the classroom.  Kuma’s family had money troubles.  Kubo might have a drug problem.  Sawada seemed to have a form of narcolepsy.  Were any of those enough to destroy a young man’s happiness, to the point that suicide seemed like the best choice?  What about the boys she didn’t know as well?  Was Kinoshita still dating that beautiful girl?  Was Noda going to turn around his girl obsession before he became a confirmed pervert?  Was Minami’s nosiness getting him into trouble?

She was so caught up in these thoughts that she lost track of time until Ucchi asked her, “Are we skipping class today or what?”

“Oh, sorry!” she said, getting up and going to the chalkboard.  Behind her she heard the familiar sound of a fight starting up.  They had fights every day.  They didn’t seem like a big deal, but maybe one of the boys was getting traumatized by the constant conflict?

Kumiko’s head was starting to hurt and she wished she was at home, where she could spar with Tetsu and Minoru to work out some of her frustrations.  Of course, she couldn’t do that here, but… damn it, she need a break.  And, anyway, maybe it would be good for the boys to do something more constructive than beating on each other.

Deciding, she turned around and announced, “Let’s go play soccer.”

She wasn’t sure what she expected – maybe enthusiasm at the opportunity to have fun outside instead of doing math – but what she got was a bunch of baffled boys staring back at her.

“Exercise is good for your mind and your body!” she told them.  “Running around and getting sweaty will help you purge your demons.”

The response to that was a lot of verbal abuse and Kumiko, who was absolutely done with dealing with shitty thoughts for the day, snapped back, “Soccer or a math test!  Pick one.”

Five minutes later, everyone was on the field and dressed in their gym clothes.  “All right!” she said.  “We need to pick captains.”

Everyone looked at Sawada who sighed and dropped his head with a put-upon expression.

Good enough for her.  “Sawada is one captain.  Noda!  You can be the other captain.”

Ignoring Noda’s protests, she pointed at Sawada.  “Pick your first teammate.”

After much fighting over who was good at athletics – apparently no one – and who had the most experience at soccer – apparently everyone except Kinoshita, who kept trying to sneak off the field – the teams were formed.  Kumiko joined Noda’s team to make the numbers even and tossed out the ball.  “Okay, let’s go!”

They were… terrible.  Utterly horrible.  Kumiko hadn’t seen such a sad attempt at soccer in her life, and she’d once watched Kyou make the recruits play while blindfolded in some sort of bizarre training technique he’d seen in a movie once.  It didn’t take long for Kumiko to take over all the positions on her team and, after she scored a few goals, for Sawada to basically take over all the positions on his team.

Eventually the game devolved into an argument between her and Sawada when she scored a sweet goal and he tried throw around big words like “offsides” and “foul”.  They were still arguing when she heard Ucchi shout, “Holy shit, that’s dangerous!  Yankumi!”

She turned to see the class staring up at the roof of the school.  Her eyes followed to see Ichikawa standing on the very edge of the roof, on the wrong side of the railing.

Kumiko swore and headed toward the building.  Kids were flooding out, along with Fujiyama, who screamed, “Ichikawa-kun!  Get behind the handrails!”

Kumiko looked up, but Ichikawa didn’t move.  He didn’t even seem to hear Fujiyama’s yelling.

Fujiyama stretched her arms out.  “Or you can jump!”

Kumiko blinked.  “Wait, what?”

That seemed to break Ichikawa’s trance, however.  “Sensei?” he called.  “What are you doing?”

“If you fall, I’ll catch you,” she said, her arms still held out as if she were waiting for an embrace.

Ichikawa’s face flushed.  “What are you saying?  I could kill you!”

“I know that, but I can’t do nothing!”

That seemed to get Ichikawa thinking, which was better than nothing, but it wasn’t getting the boy behind the railing.  “Fujiyama-sensei,” Kumiko murmured, “keep him talking as long as possible, all right?”

“Okay,” she said.  She looked up and called out to Ichikawa, “I think the padding in my chest could cushion your fall.”

Kumiko groaned and sprinted for the door.  Behind her, she could hear familiar footsteps: Sawada, sticking his nose in things like usual.  There was no time to call him off; maybe he’d even prove useful.

All thoughts of Sawada went right out Kumiko’s head when she burst out of the roof just in time to see Ichikawa turning around on the edge of the roof.  His feet were clearly not placed for the maneuver and Kumiko jumped forward just as Ichikawa slipped right off the edge of the roof.  With a desperate lunge that took her right over the railing, Kumiko managed to grab Ichikawa’s hand at the last instant.

“I got him!” she shouted, just as she felt her own fingers slide from the railing.

She had one second to think “oh, shit!” before Ichikawa’s weight pulled her off the roof.

She had just enough time to realize that she might very well die, when a pair of hands grabbed her wrist.  “You idiot!” Sawada screamed, the muscles in his arms straining with effort.  “What were you _thinking_?”

Right now Kumiko was thinking: “Sawada Shin just saved my life.”

She was also thinking: “He’s not going to be able to hold us up much longer.”

The door burst open again and Noda, Minami, and Ucchi came running out.  Kumiko closed her eyes briefly in relief.

It took a couple of minutes to get everyone on the roof – including Ucchi, who nearly gave Kumiko a heart attack when he slipped off the edge during the rescue and for several moments was held up by nothing but his fingertips – but they were all eventually pulled to safety.  Everyone was recovering when the door to the roof slammed open and Fujiyama came running out, calling, “Ichikawa-kun!”

Ichikawa’s eyes welled up.  “Sensei!”

Fujiyama grabbed him into an embrace.  Since he was just in the process of getting up, this meant his face was firmly pressed between Fujiyama’s breasts.

“Oh, brother,” Kumiko said under her breath.

Sawada, who was a couple of feet away, let out an amused snort.

Unsurprisingly, several other guys tried to get into the breast-hugging action and soon the entire roof was covered in brawling students.  Kumiko sighed and rubbed her forehead.

The door burst open again and she looked up to see Kuma had finally arrived.  “Hey,” he gasped.  “What’d I miss?”

Despite everything, Kumiko found herself smiling.


	10. Kudou Returns!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

**Chapter 10: Kudou Returns!**

Shin spent a lot of time thinking about Yamaguchi after the fiasco at the Kuroda house.  It took a lot of time, because his thoughts and feelings were a thorny, tangled mess, and for once in his life, he wasn’t sure of the right answers.

For example: if there was one thing that he had internalized from living in his father’s house, it was that the yakuza was bad.  Organized crime was treacherous, violent, and harmful to a community and the fact that it was so glamorized in movies and television just exacerbated the danger.  The areas on which Shin and his father agreed were rare, but the danger of the yakuza was one of them.

And yet: Yamaguchi was apparently yakuza and she was _none_ of those things.  Well.  Maybe she was violent, but only under very set circumstances.  Admittedly, those circumstances included teenage boys brawling in class.  But she was definitely not treacherous or bad for the community.  If anything, she was improving the Shirokin community with her endless determination and support.

And in the safety of his room and without anyone else around, Shin could admit to himself that he might, just maybe, have a bit of a crush on Yamaguchi.  As crushes went, it was kind of embarrassing: she wasn’t (objectively speaking) attractive, she was six years older, and she didn’t have a feminine bone in her body.  She wore track suits every day.  She expressed affection through roughhousing.  If her family threatened to kill him if he hurt her, they would undoubtedly _mean_ it.

God, the yakuza.  How could she be involved with the _yakuza_?

Anyway, what was a crush?  Just his brain getting mixed up by hormones.  Yamaguchi was the only woman he spent any time with day-to-day – well, the only woman who didn’t have a creepy obsession with pretty boys.  That was one of the problems of going to a boy’s school.  Finding her interesting was just a fluke of biology and the moment he met someone else, this stupid warmth he felt in his chest when he was near her would go away.

In short, Shin was very, very conflicted.  In day-to-day life, that manifested in avoidance: his attendance dropped again and, when in class, he found himself napping regularly to avoid having to look at Yamaguchi.  It wouldn’t be forever, he told himself.  Just until his body sorted itself out.

Who knows how long that would’ve lasted if it hadn’t been for the Ichikawa incident.  Shin would never forget the feeling of Yamaguchi’s hand in his, feeling her skin slowly slipping through his fingers.  If the other guys hadn’t arrived when they did…

He’d been so certain he wasn’t going to be able to hold on, that she was going to die.  In that moment, his feelings about Yamaguchi clarified.  Yeah, she was yakuza.  She was also strong, fearless, determined, and loyal.  And so maybe he had a tiny, transitory crush.  It wasn’t a big deal.  Certainly not worth sticking around his incredibly boring apartment in lieu of seeing all of the interesting nonsense Yamaguchi got up to in school.

That was the end of the avoidance.  Shin was never going to be the guy with perfect attendance, but he showed up most days and he stopped napping in Yamaguchi’s class.  At the same time, he paid more attention to the gossip that was always being muttered around him, specifically the gossip that might be yakuza-related.  He was one of the first to notice when drugs started showing up in the school in significant quantities, and he was one of the first to learn that, despite the fact that the drugs looked like ecstasy tablets, they were actually a unique form of meth.

None of which he shared with the teachers.  For all he knew, Yamaguchi’s family was connected with the drugs and the other teachers were useless.

Still, he wasn’t that surprised when, on a sunny day in early spring while he was napping on a bench in front of the school after hours, Yamaguchi sought him out.  “Sawada, what do you know about drugs?”

The magazine that was shielding Shin’s face from the sun also conveniently hid his expression.  “Drugs?”

“Yeah,” she said.  It sounded like she was facing away from him, possibly looking out over the city.

Shin considered how much he wanted to get involved in yakuza business.  “Don’t ask me.”

She didn’t say anything.

He thought about why she might be asking.  Given Yamaguchi’s personality, was she asking for her family, or was she asking because she was worried about her students?

He pulled the magazine off his face and sighed.  “I’ve heard that there’s a guy selling meth tablets behind the train station.”

She was silent for a long moment before saying, “That’s Tenkai-kumi’s territory.”

Shin sat up and looked around.  They were alone, but still… she’d never mentioned the yakuza to him since that night two months ago.  Nothing from her real life, at least: yakuza movies didn’t count.  Hesitantly, he said, “I heard the sellers were normal students.”

She shook her head.  “Where would a normal student get his hands on drugs?”

Shin didn’t have an answer for that.

“In any case, you shouldn’t get involved in this.  I’ll take care of it.”

Shin watched her go, incredulously.  If she thought he was going to stay out of this _now_ , she didn’t know him _at all_.

Besides, who else would save her when she inevitably did something stupid?

Shaking his head and feeling his chest swell with an emotion that he refused to call fondness, Shin grabbed his backpack and started toward the train station.

~~~

He took his time making his way to the station and arrived after Yamaguchi, who was pacing back and forth in front of the station looking determined and just a little bit lost.  While he watched, she sighed and sat down on the divider between the road and the sidewalk.

Shin smiled to himself and walked over.  “Drug dealers aren’t just going to come to you, you know.”

“Sawada?”

He shook his head.  “You really are terrible at planning, aren’t you?”

“What are you doing here?”  She narrowed her eyes.  “Let me guess.  You’re sticking your nose into my business again.”

“Yeah, well.”  He stepped over the barrier so that he could sit down next to her, but facing the opposite direction.  “So.  Someone’s selling drugs to high schoolers and you’re here to stop them.”  He paused for Yamaguchi to speak, but she maintained a stony silence.  “You won’t find them here, you know.  Guys like these are only going to show up when a customer arrives.”

He snuck a look at her while he waited for an answer.  She glared back.

Finally she cracked.  “So you have an idea.”

He smiled.  “You like decoy plans, right?”

He got up and started toward the station doors.  A hand grabbed the back of his jacket before he made it halfway.  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?  I’m not going to get a student involved in this!”

“You’re making a scene,” he said calmly, and his jacket was immediately released.  “Don’t worry.  I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He wandered into the station and tried to act the way Kubo would when buying drugs: he hunched his shoulders, muttered quietly to himself, and let his eyes skitter over the crowd, pausing on anyone who looked his age.

It didn’t take long for a voice to say, “Yo.  You looking for someone?”

Shin almost straightened up in surprise.  He hadn’t been really sure this was going to work.  Forcing his shoulders to stay rounded, he turned to see a guy with a scraggly beard behind him.  Next to the dealer was another guy in sunglasses, keeping watch.  “Not someone,” Shin said.  “Something.  A friend at school told me I could find it here.”

“Yeah?  Which school?”

“Shirokin.”

The dealer looked him up and down.  “What kinda something you looking for?”

“Something to help, you know.  With school.”

“Ah,” the dealer said.  “I know just what you mean.”

Shin hesitated, not sure of the next step.  “You got anything?”

“Not on me.  Too risky to just carry it around everywhere.  But you meet me here in an hour and I’ll have something for you.”  He quoted a price and Shin nodded and they went their separate ways.

Outside, Yamaguchi was leaning against a wall, doing a terrible job of looking casual.

Shin went to the vending machine next to her and showed her how casual was done, loading in coins as he murmured, “Those guys just leaving are the dealers.  They’re going to get their drugs.  We’ll meet again in an hour.”

Yamaguchi was silent for a long moment.  “You’ve known about these drugs for a while, haven’t you?”

Shin hesitated.  “I might’ve heard some rumors.”

“Right.”  Yamaguchi stood up.  “Thanks for your help, but you’re done now.  Go home.”

She ran off after the dealers and Shin shook his head.  She really didn’t know him at all, did she?

Still, he gave her a good head start before following.  It didn’t seem like a good idea to piss her off too much.

~~~

Shin didn’t know much about the boundaries of yakuza territory, but after fifteen minutes of fast-paced walking, they were in a run-down part of the city that looked vastly different than the prosperous area around Yamaguchi’s house.  The two dealers stopped in front of an office building that appeared abandoned, except for the handmade “Nekomata” sign by the door and the guy out front smoking a cigarette.  The dealers chatted with the guy, then went into the building.  The smoking guy, presumably a guard, went back to his cigarette.

Yamaguchi, who had kept a reasonable distance back from the dealers, picked up her pace.  Shin, who had hung even further back, jogged forward as quietly as he could.  He was halfway to the building when Yamaguchi did something fast and the guy guarding the door went down.  Then, being the ridiculous idiot she was, Yamaguchi hauled him to his feet and dragged him forward until he was resting against the door.  Positioning herself carefully behind the guy, she let him drop forward.  The man’s weight opened the door and, presumably, resulted in a dramatic entrance for Yamaguchi.

If Shin hadn’t been running, he would have dropped his face in his palm.  She was such a fucking nerd.  Who _did_ stuff like that in _real life_?

He was halfway through the yard after Yamaguchi when pain exploded over his head, dropping him into unconsciousness.

~~~

When he came to, there were two men standing over him.  One was holding a pipe.  Shin reached up with a shaky hand to touch his head.  His fingers came back stained red.  Shit.

“What do we have here?” one of the guys said.  He looked eerily like Minami, if Minami had freckles.  The sight – combined with Shin’s likely concussion – made Shin’s head spin in confusion.

Shouting from inside the office made Not-Minami frown.  “Pick him up,” he ordered and headed for the door.

Shin was hauled off the ground by the guy with the pipe, who was strong enough to hold Shin up with one hand.  The other hand he used to pull the pipe up against Shin’s neck.  “I wouldn’t make trouble, if I were you,” Pipe Guy said.  “I’d hate to have to hit you on the other side of your head.”

What a stupid threat.  If Shin had been feeling like himself, that threat wouldn’t’ve done a damn thing to slow him down.

Unfortunately, Shin currently felt like shit.  His knees wobbled like jelly, his head throbbed like someone was beating it with a hammer, and blood was starting to seep into his eyes, blurring his vision.  The only person he was a danger to at the moment was himself.

Pipe Guy dragged Shin along after Not-Minami.  As they got closer, it became clear from the sounds that there was some sort of fight going on.  Undoubtedly, Yamaguchi was cleaning up the Nekomata rabble.

Not-Minami opened the door and Pipe Guy shoved Shin inside.  There was a brief moment as they took in the battered thugs lying around the room.  Yamaguchi was standing in the center of the room, not a mark on her, threatening a guy wearing the ugliest shirt Shin had ever seen.

Pipe Guy suddenly shouted, “Stop right there!”

Yamaguchi looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened.

“This guy is your friend, right?” Pipe Guy said, his voice full of insinuation.  “You don’t back down, I might have to hurt him.”

Yamaguchi just stared.

“Sorry,” Shin croaked out, though the effort of speaking made his head feel like it was filling up with crushed glass.  “He got me from behind.”

“Sawada!” a familiar voice said, and Shin rolled his eyes sideways to see that Kudou was in the room.  _Fuck_.  Kudou giggled creepily.  “How unexpected.”  He turned to the other man.  “She’s his teacher.”

“Damn it,” Yamaguchi said staring at Shin.  “You damn fool.”

Shin’s stomach plummeted as he began to understand the enormity of how much he’d fucked up.

“How interesting,” Ugly Shirt said.  “I guess that gives us some leverage.”  He leaned into Yamaguchi.  “Time to choose.  You fight back, well… that student of yours might survive, but I don’t think he’d be very pretty when we’re done with him.”

Yamaguchi closed her eyes for a second.  When she opened them, they burned with determination.  “Fine.”

_No._

One of Yamaguchi’s battered opponents stood up and wiped some blood off his face.  “My turn, bitch.”

“No,” Shin whispered.

Not that it did anything, as the thug ran forward, throwing his entire weight behind a right cross.  Yamaguchi didn’t even flinch, though the punch was hard enough that it knocked her to the floor, her glasses flying away to the other side of the room.

“No!” Shin shouted, ignoring his headache.  “What the _fuck_ are you _doing_?  Get rid of them!”

A fist grabbed Shin’s hair, pulling his head back.  “Shut up, pretty boy.”

Kudou stepped forward.  “My turn.”

Shin felt sick to his stomach as Yamaguchi took another hit, this one slamming her back against the wall.

“Stop it!” Shin shouted.  Desperately, he threw himself against Pipe Guy, discovering in the process that his arms weren’t being held by Pipe Guy, but by his own jacket, tied around his wrists.  He yanked his hands frantically, but the fabric didn’t loosen in the slightest.

Pipe Guy stepped forward – Shin hadn’t even managed to knock him down – and grabbed Shin’s shirt.  “You’re going to pay for that.”  He lifted his pipe and Shin cringed away…

Only, the blow didn’t land.  Shin looked back to see the man mountain – Tetsu – holding the end of the pipe, with Pipe Guy still holding the other end.  “That’s enough,” Tetsu said.  “Let it go.”

Pipe Guy just stared back.  Tetsu slammed his head into Pipe Guy and Pipe Guy sank to the ground, apparently unconscious.

Tetsu looked like he hadn’t felt a thing.

“Tetsu,” Yamaguchi said, sounding shocked.  “What are you doing here?”

Another guy kicked in a side door.  Shin thought he recognized him from the day Yamaguchi had gone to the prison.  “Minoru!” Yamaguchi exclaimed.

“Tenkai’s boss called us,” Minoru said.  “He told us something dangerous was going down and that we should come over.”

“We saw this kid get dragged in,” Tetsu said, grabbing Shin by the arm and hauling him upright.  Shin, who had finally managed to get his hands untangled from his jacket, didn’t have the energy to protest.

“I see,” Yamaguchi said.  Shin looked up to see her wiping some blood from the corner of her mouth.  “Thanks guys.  I really owe you this time.”

Minoru let out a pained noise.  “Is that blood?  Are you bleeding?”

The hand around Shin’s arm clamped down as Tetsu snarled, “ _What?_ ”  He turned to the other gangsters.  “ _Who did this?_ ”

The gangsters immediately started protesting their innocence.

“What the fuck are you all doing?” Kudou shouted.  “We’ve got more guys than they do.  Let’s take ‘em down!”

“You idiots,” Yamaguchi said.  “Fighting’s not about having numbers.  It’s about skill.”  She stood tall and Tetsu and Minoru immediately shifted to stand behind her.

Shin, who was dragged along by Tetsu as easily as if he’d been made of air, found himself thrust against a wall behind the three Kuroda members.  Lacking anyone to actively hold him up, Shin slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

The next few minutes were a blur.  He caught glimpses here and there of fists flying and men collapsing, but between fighting the urge to vomit and the pounding pain in his head, Shin wasn’t in much shape to pay attention.

His next clear memory was of Yamaguchi’s guys hauling him up and dragging him to a car.  He was halfway there before his pride overwhelmed his injuries.  “I’m okay,” he growled.

They utterly ignored him.  Which was probably for the best, as he wasn’t sure his legs could hold him.

The car ride was awful.  The guys sat in the front seat and Yamaguchi sat next to Shin in the back, which was probably the least terrible arrangement, but it meant he was so close to her that he could feel the waves of icy rage pouring off her body.  It also made it impossible for him not to notice the bruises coming up on her face or the blood that had dripped down to the collar of her shirt.

Those bruises were because of _him_.  That blood was because of _him_.

By the time they reached Shin’s neighborhood, he felt physically better.  His headache had eased down from excruciating to merely agonizing and his legs had regained their strength.

Emotionally, however, he was a wreck.

The car pulled to a stop.  “Get out,” Yamaguchi said.

Shin fumbled with the door but managed to get it open.  He climbed out, gripping the frame hard to help hold himself upright.

The moment he released the door, it was slammed shut, presumably by Yamaguchi.

Shit.

A soft whir made him turn around.  The window was rolling down.  “Sawada,” Yamaguchi said, sounding suspiciously calm.  “It’s my fault that you got involved in this.  That’s over.  I never want you to stick your nose in my business again, I don’t care _how_ interesting you think it is!”

Without waiting for an answer, the window whirred back up.  Before it closed, the car was pulling away from the curb.

Shin let himself sink back down to the sidewalk.

_Shit_.


	11. Lopsided Battles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to CappuccettoRosso!

Sawada wasn’t in school on Monday, for which Kumiko was grateful.  She’d spent the weekend feeling angry and while most of that anger was directed at herself, she had some left for Sawada.  That kid would get himself killed if he didn’t stop getting himself caught up in yakuza business.

After a week of absence, she was feeling a little worried.  Concussions weren’t to be trifled with and Sawada had gotten hit on the head with a pipe.  Fortunately she heard Kuma gossiping with the other boys.  Apparently the story was that Sawada was covered in bruises because a bookshelf fell on him in an earthquake.  Admittedly, that was a ridiculous story – there hadn’t been a major earthquake in ages – but Kuma was the perfect person to have spreading whopping lies, since Kuma himself always believed them and never thought to look deeper.

If Sawada was feeling well enough to manipulate his friends into doing his dirty work, he wasn’t going to be dying of a concussion anytime soon.  Hopefully he was using this time off to find some hobbies other than getting into trouble.

Speaking of trouble, someone was stirring things up between the second and third years.  There’d always been issues between the two grades – apparently because of Kudou, as ridiculous as that was – but Kudou’s muscle was coming back to school after a long suspension and the students were handling it with all the usual grace of teenage boys facing a power imbalance: that is to say, none.

One day she walked past a window and glanced out to see Ucchi gearing up for a fight against someone twice his size.  Not the smartest thing to do, but she couldn’t see anyone forcing Ucchi into the fight, so she figured she’d watch just in case she had to step in to make sure no one actually died.

Noda came wandering past.  “What’re you looking at?  Class is starting soon.”

“Looks like Uchiyama’s starting a fight,” she answered absently.  Though, really, Ucchi had been stretching for at least a couple of minutes now and she was starting to think there wouldn’t be a fight after all.

“What?” Noda said, sounding surprised.  He came over to the window and looked down.  “Shit!”  He turned and shouted down the hallway.  “Everyone!  Ucchi’s in trouble!  Get Shin!  Oh.  Shit, I forgot, Shin’s not here today.”

“What’s the problem?” Kumiko asked.  “It’s just a fight.  They don’t even have knives.  Besides, I think Uchiyama started it.  See?  He’s getting ready.”

“Bullshit.  He’s shaking like a leaf.”  Noda growled.  “Look, you probably don’t know this, but Tsuruta’s a trained fighter.  He’s not just huge, he’s strong!”

“Ah,” Kumiko said, looking at the other boy in interest.  “So that’s Tsuruta.”

At that moment, Ucchi finally got up the nerve to say something.  “S-s-so, you’re b-back!” he stuttered.  Kumiko winced.

Tsuruta looked blank.  “Didn’t I beat you up once?  You cried, right?”

“Sh-shut up!  I’m n-not going to l-l-let you g-get to me this time!”

Kumiko winced again.  Noda groaned.

Ucchi pulled back his fist.  “Eat this!” he shrieked, sucker punching Tsuruta right in the gut.

Tsuruta looked a little baffled.  “Um.  Did you just try to hit me?”

“Oh, that’s sad,” Kumiko muttered.

“No shit,” Noda moaned.  “And that was his only shot!”

Except that it wasn’t Ucchi’s only shot.  In fact, Tsuruta just stood there while Ucchi laid into him with a barrage of punches and kicks.  After about a minute of this, Ucchi fell back, gasping for air.  “Did I get him?” he asked the group at large.

“Oh, brother,” Kumiko said.

Tsuruta brushed a bit of dust off his shirt from one of Ucchi’s kicks and turned away.  A couple of third years immediately came up to him and started talking trash on Ucchi’s behalf, telling him that the second years were laughing at his – admittedly ridiculous – eyebrows.

Tsuruta swelled up like a balloon.  “They said _what_?” he roared.

“Crap,” Kumiko said and sprinted for the nearest exit.

By the time she and Noda got outside, Tsuruta was huffing like a bull, staring down at Ucchi.  Ucchi stared back, his face white, trying to protest that he didn’t say anything about Tsuruta’s eyebrows.  Meanwhile, all of the third years were egging Tsuruta on and a group of male teachers yelled at the boys to stop fighting – from the safety of the other side of the yard.

Kumiko was still trying to figure out what she could do without breaking her cover when Tsuruta shouted, “Eat this!” and swung a leg at Ucchi.

Ucchi let out a high pitched scream and flew back as Tsuruta’s foot connected with his face.

All of the second year boys rushed over to Ucchi to make sure he was all right.  The third year boys laughed among each other.  Tsuruta turned to walk away alone.

One of the male teachers, Hatta, found enough courage to get within a few yards of Tsuruta.  “W-wait a moment, Tsuruta-kun!” he called out.  “You just got back from suspension and you’re already fighting!  You realize that the next step is expu—”

“Wait, Hatta-sensei!” Kumiko said quickly.  She thought back to the fight.  Tsuruta had definitely weakened his kick before connecting with Ucchi.  “Listen, Uchiyama started this fight and he’s not even seriously hurt.  Maybe we should let this one go.”

“What do you mean I’m not hurt?” Ucchi screeched.  “I’m bleeding!  I might die!”

Kumiko looked at the blood dripping from Ucchi’s nose without sympathy.  “If you start a fight, you suffer the consequences.  Besides, it’s time for math.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked inside.  As expected, everyone scrambled to follow.

She hid a smile.  Sure, they could be a pain in the ass, but in the end, they were her boys.

~~~

Unfortunately, things did not improve.  Tsuruta might not be inherently bad, but he was clearly easily led and every day more and more second year students came to class covered in bandages.  Tensions were building with each bashing and even the teachers started to get riled up at each other.  Soon the school was teetering on the edge of all-out war.

Kumiko never thought she’d think this after the Nekomata incident, but right now she was missing Sawada.  If nothing else, he would provide at least one rational brain in this mess.

Unfortunately Sawada was still at home nursing his wounds, which meant it was up to Kuma to come up with a plan.  Yamaguchi had the dubious pleasure of happening to overhear this gem: to dig a really big hole and trick Tsuruta into it.

With a sigh, Yamaguchi accepted that it was going to be up to her to fix this situation, even if she hadn’t figured out how to do so without blowing her cover.

On the day of the fight, she made her way to what seemed to be the usual off-campus fight location: namely, the same patch of grass under the bridge that Sawada had called her to earlier in the school year.  Trusting the boys to demonstrate their usual observational skills, Kumiko picked out a spot on the bridge that was close but not right over the fight area and waited to see what would happen.  As she waited, she checked out the pit trap.  From here, all she could see was a banana next to a suspicious looking pile of grass.  It was hard to imagine that anyone would fall for that, even Tsuruta, but she’d learned not to underestimate the level of stupidity found at Shirokin.

The second years showed up about twenty minutes early and hid themselves under the bridge.  Kumiko ducked down behind the bridge railing at the sight of them, just in case, and listened as they discussed possible hiding places.  When she peeked her head above the railing again, they were all gone.

The third years showed up right on time and Kumiko ducked down again with a quiet snort.  If only the kids showed this level of punctuality for their classes.

A crack and a thud interrupted her thoughts and she poked her head over the side of the railing.  “Unbelievable,” she muttered at the sight of Tsuruta standing in the bottom of a ten foot pit.  “I can’t believe they dug a hole that big.”

If only the kids showed this level of _initiative_ for their classes.

The second years came out of hiding, crowing at their success, and it took less than a minute for the situation to devolve into an all-out brawl.  Kumiko watched for a few seconds, and then leaned on the railing.  Without Tsuruta involved, the two groups were pretty evenly matched.  Maybe this fight would help them all work out a bit of frustration.

When things seemed to be winding down, she headed for her car.  She’d packed a ladder in the trunk, just in case.

By the time she got back, the kids were all gone other than Tsuruta, who was just standing there in the middle of the pit, not even trying to get out.  Kumiko sighed.  Sometimes she wondered about these kids, she really did.

Putting the ladder in place, she ordered Tsuruta out.  Not saying a word, he climbed the ladder.

“Everyone’s gone,” she said.  “It’s just you and me here.”

Tsuruta looked around, then promptly sat down on the ground with his back against the wall of the embankment.  He looked like a marionette with its strings cut, Kumio thought irritably.  It was frustrating that someone so physically strong could be so weak in will.

“All right,” she said after a long pause.  “Decision time.  Based on what I saw, the second years and the third years are pretty evenly matched.  I think the school will settle down if you stop helping out the third years.”

Tsuruta just stared at her blankly.

She growled under her breath.  “Do you really want to go around bullying the weak?”

“No!” he exclaimed, showing the first bit of emotion she’d ever seen from him.  “I don’t want to hit anyone weak.  But what can you do?  The strong are the strong and the weak are the weak.  The loser has to obey the winner!  That’s why I gotta fight.”

Kumiko mulled that over for a second.  “You know there are lots of people in the world stronger than you, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.  No one at the school, though.”

Kumiko snorted.  “You’re clearly not looking in the right place.”

He stared at her, clearly startled.  “What?”

Dropping her weight down, Kumiko let her fist fly forward, slamming it into the wall next to Tsuruta’s head.

He gaped at her.

She put up two fingers.  “I can finish you off with just two fingers.”

He gaped for another full minute.  Kumiko waited, giving his brain the time it needed to process.

Suddenly, he jumped to his feet.  “Who the hell _are_ you?”

“I’m the math teacher,” Kumiko said.  “And the one person at Shirokin High School who is stronger than you.”

He gaped some more.  Kumiko held in a sigh.  Ten seconds later, he roared, “You’re _lying_!”

“Try me.”

He paused.  “I don’t hit women.”

“Right.”  Not that she disagreed with the sentiment in general, but Kumiko needed him to swing at her to prove a point.  It went against her every instinct to do this, but…  “Your head’s really big, isn’t it?  And your eyebrows – how can you tell which one is the left and which one is the right?  They seem like an uninterrupted line.”

As expected, Tsuruta’s face turned red with rage.  “You bitch!  I’ll get you for that!”

He swung at her and she ducked out of his way.  He kicked and she jumped back.  For a couple of minutes, all she did was focus on dodging his attacks, letting him burn off his initial burst of rage.

Finally, he ran out of steam.  “Come on,” she taunted.  “Are you really done already?”

“What did you say?” he wheezed out between pants, lunging at her again.

This time with Kumiko dodged, she jumped up the side of the embankment.  Tsuruta looked around, confused.

Kumiko shook her head.  He really was thick.  Fortunately, he clearly was as strong as a bull, so she jumped off the embankment and landed as lightly as she could on his head.

Tsuruta’s neck bent slightly under her weight, but he didn’t seem to be in undue physical distress.  “What the hell?” he said.

“You’re really slow,” Kumiko said.  “I bet you couldn’t even catch a fly.”

“Wh-what are you?” Tsuruta spluttered.  “Are you even human?”

“I’m the person who beat you,” Kumiko said.

Tsuruta growled and reached his hands up to grab her legs.  She jumped back and said, “Hey!  Behind you!”

When he turned around, she stuck her two fingers up his nose.

It was hard to say which of the two of them regretted that moment more.

Tsuruta fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose.  Kumiko held her two contaminated fingers to the side.  “You lost, Tsuruta.  You won’t beat me, no matter how many times you try.”

He fell back to the ground, swearing.

Kumiko crossed her arms, remembering her fingers too late.  Suppressing a shudder, she stared down her nose at Tsuruta, keeping her pose dominant.  “You said you’d do what the winner says, right?”

He gaped.

“ _Right?_ ”

He nodded.

“Good.  First thing, then: I want you to stop getting into fights just because people tell you to.  Strong people don’t need to go around picking fights.”

He stared.  “Didn’t you just pick a fight with m—”

“Second thing!  Don’t argue with me.”

He stared some more.  Kumiko sighed.  This might be a bit too much for him to process all at once.  “All right, that’s enough.”  She leaned down to pick up the banana.  Tossing it to Tsuruta, she added, “You should do a bit more studying, okay?”  After all, his brain needed all the help it could get.

Really, she should have expected what happened next.  Tsuruta clearly craved a strong personality to follow and there was probably too much temptation to get into trouble if he stayed among the third years.

Fortunately for Tsuruta, all of the other teachers were too afraid of him to protest his voluntarily dropping down a grade to join Kumiko’s class.

Fortunately for Kumiko, this allowed her to keep an eye on him.

Her other students would understand.

Eventually.

~~~

After a couple of days, Tsuruta had been adopted by the rest of 2-4, which was for the best.  Kumiko was dealing with way too much drama of her own to cope with her students being brats.

It started with a formal request for her go to go Grandpa’s office.  Kumiko had never felt a hint of fear while living in the Kuroda household, but in the past formal requests were usually the result of her getting into trouble: fighting bullies in school, getting caught eavesdropping on business conversations, that one time she got so drunk she got lost trying to find her way home.  Formal requests meant she’d done something wrong and was going to get a scolding.

Except that Kumiko hadn’t done anything in years that would have warranted a formal request.  Even with her students getting into messes with other families, Kumiko knew the rules well enough to be able to intervene without problems.  Hell, it was even starting to build her reputation, as more yakuza encountered her as an adult, rather than a precocious child.

Thus she was feeling a twinge of anxiety when she slid open the door to see Grandpa, Kyou, and Shinohara all sitting in the office.  “Kumiko,” Grandpa said, smiling gently.  “Come in and have a seat.”

Swallowing hard, Kumiko slid down to the floor facing Grandpa.  She drew some comfort from having Kyou and Shinohara at her back, and from Grandpa’s relaxed expression.  He didn’t _look_ angry.

“Tanukibara’s kaichou-san came in to see me today,” Grandpa said.  “It seems like you made an impression on Uma-no-o’s kaichou-san, and he’s asked for an omiai.  Understanding how our family chooses a successor, he’s even agreed to join his own family to ours, so that the Kuroda family would not lose you.”

Kumiko gaped at him.

Grandpa’s smile slipped a little.  “I know this is… unexpected.  That’s the way it goes with good women.  Once you get out there, you’re going to start getting offers.”

“But, Grandpa,” Kumiko said.  “I don’t want to sit for an omiai!”

Kyou, bless his heart, immediately jumped in.  “She’s right, boss!  Besides, the guy’s way too old for her!”

“You’d object no matter who it was,” Granda pointed out.

Kyou settled back down, grumbling.

“Sensei,” Grandpa said, turning to Shinohara.  “What do you think about the situation?”

Kumiko held her breath, waiting for Shinohara’s answer.

There was a long pause.

“Of course sensei disagrees with this,” Kyou said pointedly to Shinohara.

Kumiko’s chest was starting to hurt from the lack of air.

“I think,” Shinohara finally said, “that it depends on the man.  However, the deal itself doesn’t sound too bad.”

Kumiko’s heart shattered.

Jumping to her feet, she ran from the room, ignoring Kyou’s cries for her to wait.

She didn’t make it to her room.  By the time she reached the ima, she was crying too hard to see where she was going and she fell to her knees in the corner, sobbing.

Behind her, she could hear Wakamatsu, Tetsu, and Minoru freaking out over her tears.  A few minutes later, Kyou came in and tried to calm everyone down.

That just made them freak out more.

Kumiko bit down on her lip, fighting back her tears and sniffing hard to clear her nose.  When she was sure she could speak without her voice breaking, she stood up.  “I’m not crying!” she shouted, which quieted the room down at least, even if it was an obvious lie.

She turned around, “Right!  Bring it on!  We’re going to get prepared for this, so help me God!”

“We’re going on a raid!” Tetsu cheered.

“We’re going on an omiai,” Kyou said wearily.  “Are you sure, Ojou?”

Kumiko thought about Shinohara.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

~~~

The omiai was scheduled for Saturday, which was three days away.  Kumiko spent most of that time in her room, practicing how to get out of her houmongi quickly.  It was a lot easier than it would have been with a formal kimono – in fact, she didn’t think she _could_ get out of a formal kimono without help – but it took a lot of attempts to figure out how to adjust the ties so that it held up well enough to walk into a room, but loosened easily enough to be pulled off in one motion.

In the end, she wasn’t able to figure out a way to hide a sword in the houmongi and had to go to Kyou for help.  Fortunately, as an ancillary to the omiai, no one would be paying too much attention to him.  He would be able to arrive at the venue early and hide the swords.

The morning of the omiai, Kumiko went back to the salon that had dressed her up for the Tenkai meeting.  The same stylist greeted her at the door.  Apparently he was starting to get used to her requests, because he just lifted his eyebrows and asked how much time they had.  “This may take a few tries to get right.”

It took an hour and a half worth of tries.  Kumiko almost didn’t make it back in time to get dressed properly.  She didn’t bother with makeup.  If Uma-no-o decided her natural face wasn’t pretty enough marry, so much the better.

The mediator of the omiai was one of Tanukibara’s guys.  He was the one who decided that the meeting should be at a venue on Kuroda territory, since Uma-no-o would be joining the Kuroda family should the omiai be successful.  In exchange, Uma-no-o would get the right of first arrival, allowing him to arrange his people around the room to his satisfaction before Kumiko’s party would arrive.

By the time Kyou announced that it was time to leave for the omiai, she’d been dressed and waiting for half an hour.  She was _more than_ ready to get this all over with.

The meeting was at a traditional inn with a formal shoin style room.  It felt a bit grand for the six people attending the omiai: Kumiko, Grandpa and Kyou for the Kuroda group; Uma-no-o and a representative of the Uma-no-o group; and Tanukibara, who was serving as the mediator for the actual omiai.  At least they were allowed to kneel on cushions, since the omiai was anticipated to take quite a while.

Of course, if Kumiko’s plan worked, this would all be over soon.  Which was good, because she could feel a couple of hard ridges under the cushion.  It made for very uncomfortable kneeling.

The meeting started with small talk between Grandpa and Tanukibara.  Kumiko was stuck watching Uma-no-o himself, who was sitting across from her and blushing deeply.

Next to her, she heard Tanukibara murmur to Grandpa, “Your granddaughter seems very modest today.  She must like him more than we thought.”

“Um…” Grandpa said.  He, at least, was suspicious.

Tanukibara, perhaps moved by his belief that the two participants were already raring to get engaged, decided to skip the usual introductory questions and said, “Well, there’s no use having us old folks around.  Why don’t we let the young ones—”

Kumiko cut in quickly.  “Tanukibara kaichou!  Please forgive me for my rudeness, but I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Kumiko,” Grandpa said sharply.  “What are you up to?”

“Oh, no, it’s not a problem,” Tanukibara said.  “What do you need to say?”

“I’d like to use my own criteria to decide on this offer,” Kumiko said, sliding off the cushion carefully to avoid revealing the swords hidden underneath.

Tanukibara looked taken aback.  “Your criteria?”  He glanced at Uma-no-o.  “What do you think?”

“O-of course!  I’d love to use Kumiko-san’s criteria!”

Kumiko hid a smile.  This was the advantage of the first strike.  It threw your opponents off guard.

“Then there’s no problem,” Tanukibara said.  “Tell me, what are your criteria?”

Kumiko reached up with one hand and pulled out the sole pin that was holding her hair up in a bun, releasing her ponytail.  At the same time, she used her other hand to jerk down the partially untied houmongi, letting it fall to the floor to reveal the tank top and shorts she had on underneath.  Reaching under her cushion, she pulled out the wooden swords and stood up, stepping out of the pile of fabric surrounding her feet.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.  Three days of training _very_ well spent.

The men all gaped at her.

“What the hell?” Grandpa said.

“Wow,” Uma-no-o said dreamily.

Kumiko dropped back down on her knees and bowed as she pushed over one of the wooden swords.  “Uma-no-o-san, please fight me.  I am not perfect, but I am the only daughter of the Kuroda family and I do have some skills.  Therefore I cannot accept a husband weaker than me.”

“What interesting criteria,” Tanukibara said.

Grandpa buried his face in his hand.

Uma-no-o burst out laughing.  “I accept your challenge.”  He leered at her.  “Fair warning, though – I’m not exactly weak myself.  You sure you want to decide this marriage on a fight?”

“I’m sure.”

Behind her, she could hear Kyou snickering and Grandpa quietly groaning.  Well, at least two people here had some idea what was going on.

Uma-no-o went to another room with his representative to get ready for the fight.  Kumiko and her group went outside to the garden.  Grandpa looked irritated.  Kyou was grinning.  Various other members of the Kuroda family were wandering around outside; apparently everyone had heard about this omiai.  Great.

“What going on?” Kumiko heard Wakamatsu ask Kyou under his breath.

“Ojou’s showing Uma-no-o who’s boss,” Kyou answered and Grandpa groaned again.

By the time Uma-no-o stepped outside with his shirt untucked and half unbuttoned, even Tanukibara seemed to have picked up that this was something more than maidenly shyness.  “I’m not entirely thrilled with this outcome,” he said.  “But you’ve both agreed and I will serve as referee.  Get into position!”

Kumiko stood across from Uma-no-o and held up her sword.  He did the same.

“Fight!” Tanukibara shouted.

Uma-no-o lifted his sword in a flashy move and Kumiko whacked him on the head.

He dropped like a rock.  All around the courtyard men gasped, except Kyou, who was going to give himself a hernia holding in all of that laughter.

Uma-no-o looked up from the ground in shock.

“I don’t have anything against you,” Kumiko said.  “But please give up on me.”  She brought down the sword again, knocking him unconscious.  “Thank you.  Goodbye.”

“Amazing,” Tanukibara exclaimed.  “What skill!”

The Uma-no-o men rushed to their leader.  It didn’t take that long to wake him up; Kumiko hadn’t hit him that hard.

Grandpa, scowling, stepped up to Uma-no-o.  “I’m sorry for my granddaughter.”

Uma-no-o waved away the apology.  “Nothing to apologize for.  This just makes me love her more than ever.  I’ll train myself up and challenge her again!”

Both Grandpa and Tanukibara looked deeply skeptical of Uma-no-o’s success.  Kumiko promptly made a plan to practice her sword more often.  There was no way she was going to let herself or the kumi get saddled with this guy.

The moment they got back to the house, Grandpa pulled Kumiko into his office.  “All right,” he said.  “What was that about?”

She shrugged.  “He wouldn’t’ve made a good leader for the kumi.”

Grandpa frowned.  “Not that I disagree, but there was no need for that production.  Why not just turn down the omiai in the first place?  It might’ve strained ties, but it was far less risky than attacking their kaichou in front of witnesses.  If Uma-no-o had taken it differently, it could’ve started a war!”

“I was thinking about what you said,” Kumiko said.  “About how there are going to be more offers.  This will put a stop to that, don’t you think?”

Grandpa considered that.  “Possibly.  Some might take it as a challenge.”

“Someone who does probably isn’t the type of man to agree to let go of his own kumi to join ours,” Kumiko answered.  Neither of them bothered to bring up the idea of a man in the Kuroda kumi trying to force a marriage by beating her in a swordfight.  None of the men in their kumi were that stupid.

“Well, what’s done is done,” Grandpa said.  “I know you’ll make the right decision when the time comes.”

Kumiko smiled her thanks and left.


	12. Shin and Kyou’s Excellent Adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank you to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!
> 
> Second, this is about the point in the novelization when I realized that Kozueko Morimoto never expected Gokusen to last as long as it did and/or forgot to create a timeline for her(?) manga, because Shirokin’s spring is approximately a million months long and then there’s a summer and then the students transition to third year in the fall, even though school years in Japan start in April. So, uh… please ignore the illogical passage of time?

Shin hadn’t planned to go to the doctor after the Nekomata incident, but after three days of constant nausea, headaches, and fuzzy thoughts, he changed his mind.

Apparently concussions are serious business.  And that wasn’t even taking into account the hairline skull fracture.  Shin had never gotten yelled at by a doctor before, and he only barely managed to talk the woman out of calling his parents, mostly by name-dropping his dad and lying his ass off.

Fortunately the worst of the danger was over and the skull fracture wasn’t really that big of a deal, but his concussion was a serious one and for the first week, Shin was forbidden to leave the apartment, engage in any physical activity, or think too hard.

He didn’t do a very good job with that last instruction, but it wasn’t his fault.  No matter how much he tried not to think about it, his brain kept replaying that moment over and over again, the moment when Yamaguchi just stood there and took a punch.  For _him_.  To keep him _safe_.

If he’d hit her _himself_ , he would have actually hurt her less, because at least then there would’ve only been one person punching her.

By the second week, the nausea had started to subside and the spectacular bruising on the left side of his face had faded from black to a really dark purple.  Kuma showed up to check up on him and Shin had to put him off with a dumb story about an earthquake.  Not his best work, but he’d blame his bruised brain.  Besides, it was Kuma.  The story didn’t have to be good to be effective.

The third week was actually kind of boring, because the nausea had completely gone away and his headache had mostly gone as well.  On the other hand, there was no way he could go to school yet, not with half of his face a hideous mottled greenish-yellow.  No one else was going to buy that dumbass earthquake story.

Thus, it was nearly a month after the Nekomata incident that Shin returned to Shirokin.  He missed a few exams during that time, but between his usual high grades and Shirokin’s unique grading system, his academics were fine.  His friends, on the other hand…

Well, they definitely hadn’t bought Kuma’s story.  Fortunately, Shin had a reputation for reticence.  Unfortunately, he’d been gone long enough that the other students had become _very_ curious.

It all might’ve gone to shit if Tsuruta hadn’t shown up.  _In his class_.  “What the hell is he doing here?” he asked the other boys accusingly.

Entirely distracted from their questions about Shin’s mysterious absence, the other boys started teasing Tsuruta, who sat there like a really dumb and annoyed, but tame, bear.  “This idiot decided to fall back a grade,” Ucchi said, slapping Tsuruta on the back of the head.  “Such an idiot!”

“Yeah,” Noda said, also slapping Tsuruta.  “He really wants to be in our class for some reason.”

“You can slap him, too,” Ucchi offered.

Shin stared at them incredulously.  “…no thanks.”

At that moment Yamaguchi stepped in and Shin _knew_.  Without question.  Somehow, someway, she’d managed to turn Tsuruta from a mindless bully into a tame gorilla.

Yamaguchi glanced over the room.  “Sawada Shin!  _Finally!_   You’ve been gone forever.”

She smiled at him then, like it was nothing.

He felt his stomach clench up so tight it was almost painful.

The moment her back was turned, he snuck out of the classroom.

~~~

Since a month in his apartment had made him hate the very sight of it, Shin decided to go wandering around town instead of going home.  Not that there was anything new to see – he’d lived in Shirokin his entire life, after all, and he’d lived in his apartment for nearly two years.

A loud crash caught his attention, along with that of everyone else on the sidewalk.  Shin looked over as people began running in the direction of the alley where the noise had come from, but decided that he didn’t want to deal with crowds at the moment.  He was just starting to walk away when he heard a guy say, “Oh my God, I think those guys are yakuza.”

Shin froze.  On the one hand, the yakuza were of intense interest to him at the moment.  On the other hand… Yamaguchi.  Who had already gotten pissed at him for sticking his nose in her affairs.

…Although, it wasn’t like this would have anything to do with Yamaguchi’s group.  Her house was almost an hour away.  And he was kind of curious about what other yakuza were like.  Was Yamaguchi’s group normal or were they just as weird among yakuza as Yamaguchi was among teachers?

In the background, he heard more chattering.  One guy said incredulously, “That guy’s taking on three men himself!  And he’s making it look easy!”

_I’ll just take a quick look_ , Shin decided.  _She never needs to know._

Peeking around the edge of the crowd, he froze again.  _Shit!  It’s that guy!  The young chief!_

Sure enough, the young chief was holding his own against three men.  In fact, as Shin watched, the chief kicked one guy against a wall of the alley and threw another man twenty feet to the other side of the alley.  The third guy he actually threw _on top of_ the second, as if the man weighed no more than a doll.

“Holy shit,” Shin breathed.  This guy was as strong as Yamaguchi.  Maybe stronger!

A guy rammed into the back of Shin’s shoulder as he ran past and Shin looked over to see the glint of a knife.  Without thinking about it, he ran forward shouting, “Young Chief!  Look out behind you!  There’s another one!”

The chief didn’t seem to hear him, so Shin kicked the knife guy in the back of his head, knocking him to the ground.  That caught the chief’s attention.  He turned from the thug he was beating and looked at Shin.  “Wait, aren’t you—”

Shin didn’t catch the rest, due to getting sucker punched in the face by Knife Guy.  Shin snarled.  Goddamn it, he was absolutely not getting another _fucking concussion_.  He put all his strength into kicking Knife Guy in the side of the head.  Knife Guy dropped to the ground, groaning.

“Hey!” Young Chief shouted.  “Stop that!  These guys are mine!”

That did absolutely nothing to improve Shin’s already shitty temper.  “You were about to get stabbed from behind!”

“Hell with that!  I saw him coming!  I would’ve dodged!”

“The fuck you were!  You didn’t even realize he was there!”

“The hell I didn’t!”

Suddenly Shin looked over to see the thugs all limping away, “Damn it.”

The chief looked around and swore.  “I was going to pile them up like they do in manga!”

_So that’s where she gets it from_ , Shin thought.  Shit.  Whoever this guy was, he was clearly close to Yamaguchi.  This _definitely_ counted as sticking his nose in her business.  “Whatever.  I’m sorry for getting involved.”  He turned and walked away.

Before he got to the end of the alley, he heard the chief call out, “Yo, wait up, Redhead.”

Shin hesitated, then turned back.

“If you ain’t doing anything right now, you should come out for a bit.  I should thank a guy who saved my life.”

_Ha!_ Shin thought, vindicated at the acknowledgement that Young Chief had been in trouble.  And he _was_ desperately curious to see what a yakuza chief did in his spare time.  But…  He sighed.  “I don’t know.”

“Well, I’m not going to force you,” the chief said, sounding offended.

“It’s not that.  I’ve got the time and I’d like to, but if she finds out…”

“She?”

“Yamaguchi said…”

Young Chief got right up in his face.  “ _What did you say?_ ”

Shin gulped.  “Um, Yamaguchi-sensei?  She told me to stay out of her business.”

Young Chief burst out laughing.  “You got told off by Ojou?  Well, it’s true you’ll be in trouble if she finds out.”

“I don’t care about that!” Shin said.  “But last time she got hurt because of me.  I’m _never_ going to let that happen again.  _Never_.”

“Huh,” Young Chief said, looking thoughtful.  “You know what, I like you Redhead.  Come on out with me for a night.”  He grinned.  “I guarantee Ojou won’t get hurt by anything we do.”

Shin hesitated a moment longer, but his curiosity quickly got the better of him.  “Okay.  No one gets hurt?”

Young Chief clapped him on the shoulder.  “No one gets hurt.  Probably.”

Shin sighed.

~~~

One thing quickly became clear: Young Chief – whose name was Kyou – was _incredibly_ popular.  Anyone who looked remotely like a gangster paid him their respects and even a few random shopkeepers bowed when they said good evening.  Kyou kept his head up and his chest out, taking the greetings and well wishes as his due.

“You’re pretty popular,” Shin commented.

Kyou chuckled.  “Yep.  And it’s not even my territory!  This area belongs to Tanukibara.”

Shin tucked that bit of information away.  “Uh-huh.  So, not that I care or anything, but what are we doing?”

Kyou grinned.  “Don’t worry.  Trust me and I’ll take you somewhere good.”

_Right_ , Shin thought dubiously.  He wasn’t much more confident five minutes later when Kyou slipped off his coat, glanced around, and then ducked down an alley, shouting, “Follow me!”

_Subtle_ , Shin thought, running after Kyou.  “Where are we going?”

“Just follow me!”

Stepping out of the other end of the alley was like stepping into another world.  A very run down world that consisted of a small dirt yard wrapping around three sides of a tiny shack.  All around them were tall, modern buildings, one of them pressed right up against the back of the shack.

“Here?” Shin asked dubiously, looking around.  He’d never seen anything like this before in Japan, but he’d heard of places in Hong Kong where minor inefficiencies in planning and developer communication left small patches of wasted land between and behind buildings.  With housing prices through the roof, those bits of land were being colonized by the poorest of the poor.

That’s what this place looked like: a hidden patch of dirt claimed by a family who could afford nothing better.

All Kyou said in response was, “Make sure you take your shoes in with you.”

Shin lifted his eyebrows, but obediently went up onto the porch and removed his sneakers.  When Kyou went inside without knocking, Shin followed.

He immediately regretted it when he found a family inside.  The husband was eating his dinner and the wife was breastfeeding her baby.  Shin blushed bright red.  “Excuse me,” he choked out.

The man ignored him in favor of Kyou.  “Good evening, Chief.”

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Kyou said, walking right through the small room to the door in the back.  “If you’ll excuse us.”

“Sure thing,” the man said.

“Not a problem,” the woman said.

Shin ducked his head and said nothing until they went through the door and into the tiny kitchen.  “What’s going on here?” he hissed when they were alone.

“Shh,” Kyou said.  “We’re here.”  He knocked on a door in the back of the kitchen.

A voice came from the door.  “Mountain!”

Shin stared.

Kyou called back, “Outside play!”

“What the…” Shin murmured.

The door opened and a man in a suit and entirely lacking in eyebrows – _clearly_ yakuza – poked his head out.  “Ah, Young Chief!  Welcome!”

Shin followed Kyou through the door to find himself in a blank, anonymous, empty office hallway.  A beefy guy in a black suit stood at the end of the hallway, in front of another door.  The guy without eyebrows said, “The Young Chief from Kuroda is here.”

The beefy guy immediately reached for the door and opened it.  “Please, come through.”

Shin looked past the doorway and felt his breath catch in his chest at the sight of a long, low table surrounded by burly men and a couple of hard-faced women.  There were cards and wooden blocks on the table, along with an enormous pile of tokens that looked suspiciously like gambling chips.

This was a gambling den!

“Wow,” Shin said, trying not to stare as he stepped into the room.  “I didn’t know this stuff still happened.  It’s kind of like being in a movie.”

Kyou had already walked off to a desk in the corner of the room.  As Shin watched, he handed over a thick wad of bills and received a stack of chips in return.  They chatted for a moment and Shin sidled a little bit closer.  The guy behind the desk looked at Shin and said, “That guy looks new.  Is he a recruit?”

Shin gulped, debating whether he should protest (loudly) or whether he should keep his mouth shut in the interests of not pissing off the dozen or so yakuza guys in the room.

Kyou shook his head.  “He’s my guest.”

The guy at the desk looked shocked.  “Your guest?  Really?”

Shin stepped even closer, actively curious now.  Clearly Kyou didn’t bring a lot of guests around.

“Yeah,” Kyou said.  “Can’t tell you his name but… hm.  How about we call him the Young Red Lion Master.”

Shin choked.  He was about to _strenuously_ protest that incredibly lame alias when one of the guys standing near him let out an awed gasp.  “So cool!”

Shin stared at him.  “Uh…”

The man bowed.  “Aniki of the Red Lion!  I’m Kaneda!  Nice to meet you!”

“…sure,” Shin said.  “…thanks.  I just have to go join K—I mean, the Young Chief over there.”

He fled to where Kyou had settled at the table, suddenly looking like the safest spot in the room.

“So,” Shin said, sitting down and surveying table as a woman in a kimono started passing out stacks of cards.  “How do you play this game?”

“One player gets three cards,” Kyou said, showing Shin the three in his hand.  “The other player gets tiles that are the same as the cards.”  Shin looked over to see a guy wearing traditional clothing setting three tiles in front of him.  They were engraved with the same symbols as on the cards.  “You pay as many chips as you want to play, and then try to guess what tile he’s going to pick.  If you guess right, you get three chips back for each chip you put in.  If you guess wrong, you get nothing.”

“Simple enough,” Shin said, though he couldn’t imagine the appeal.  Seemed like an easy way to lose a lot of money.

“It’s more complicated than it looks,” Kyou said.  He tapped his head.  “You gotta use your brains to win.  Watch me for a while; you’ll pick it up.”

Kyou promptly lost fifteen hands in a row.

“Damn it!” he said, slamming his hand down on the table as his last chip was taken away.  “You!  Baldy!” he shouted, pointing at the guy who did the money exchange.  “Bring me some more chips!”

“Ahhh… maybe you should stop for tonight?” the cashier said.

Kyou grabbed the guy by the neck and jerked him forward.  “Shut up and bring me my chips!”

Shin swallowed hard and did his best not to shrink back in his cushion.  He didn’t feel afraid, exactly, but this was getting a lot closer to the ugly violence that he’d always been told to associate with the yakuza.  It was a far cry from Yamaguchi’s good natured roughhousing and strict fighting guidelines.

Everyone settled back down to the table, a new pile of chips in front of Kyou.  He stared at his cards and started to pull one out.

Shin had been watching the other guy for the last fifteen hands and he was pretty sure he’d picked up some tells.  After a moment of hesitation, he leaned in and whispered, “Wait!  I think it’s this one.”

Kyou stared at him.  “Really?  Why?”

“It just feels right,” Shin said, because he wasn’t about to tell the whole table that the guy with the tiles glanced to the right when he was thinking of using the left tile.

“Huh,” Kyou said and picked the card that Shin suggested.  He put it facedown on the table and stared across at the man with the tiles, who pushed forward the tile with the three lines.

“Holy shit!” Kyou shouted, flipping over his card.  “It’s a hit!”  He turned to Shin.  “How did you know?”

Shin considered how to answer.  “I guess that’s just what I would have picked if I were him.”  Which wasn’t true at all, but probably sounded good to a guy who thought gambling was an intellectual pursuit.

Kyou looked at him for a moment, then handed over the cards and the nine chips he’d just won.  “Let’s see what you can do.”

Thirty minutes later, Shin’s nine chips had grown to ninety and he was getting very confident in his ability to read Tile Guy’s tells.  Everyone else in the room had abandoned their own games and were now sitting around the end of the table near Shin, watching as he swept in another pile of chips.

No wonder so many people gambled, Shin thought.  This felt _amazing_.

“You’re doing very well, young one,” Tile Guy said.  “How about we bet it all on the next turn?”

Shin looked down at his pile of chips, wondering just how much each one was worth.

One guy called out from the crowd, “Don’t do it, aniki!  That’s way too much!”

Kyou laughed.  “Just go for it!”

Well, it was Kyou’s money to start with.  “Fine,” Shin said.  “All in.”

“Then select your card,” Tile Guy said and suddenly his face was blank as a white wall.  Not a hint of a tell was visible.

Shin gulped.  What the hell was going on?  Had he just gotten played?

Unsure what to do, he picked a card at random and set it face down.  This time it truly would be a gamble.

Tile Guy reached down and pushed forward a tile.

The door suddenly slammed open and the beefy guy guarding the door shouted, “It’s a raid!”

People jumped up and started shouting, running around trying to cover the evidence.  One guy ran to a door in the back of the room and opened it.  “Young Chief!  This will take you out a back exit.”

Shin was too busy staring at his own card to do anything.  He felt Kyou’s hand grabbing the back of his shirt and dragging him along.  They were almost out of the room before Shin managed to get his feet underneath him.

They ran flat out for at least a mile before Kyou stopped.  “All right,” Kyou said, not even breathing heavily.  “We should be okay now.”

Shin, bent over and panting, gasped out between breaths, “This is like a movie.”

“And we were at the best part,” Kyou said, sounding annoyed.  “That raid invalidated the last hand.”

“No,” Shin said, recovering enough to at least stand up straight.  “I was going to lose that last one.”  He held up his card and showed it to Kyou.

“Damn,” Kyou said, sounding impressed.  “Luck’s with us!  All right, time for our next stop.”

Shin felt a sense of rising doom.  “There’s more?”

“Hell yeah.  I said I was gonna thank you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah,” Shin said warily.

“Then our next stop is…” he paused dramatically, “women.”

Shin’s throat closed up.  “Women?” he squeaked.

Kyou smiled smugly.  “Women.”

~~~

On the way to the red light district – Shin went a little lightheaded at the very thought – Kyou tried to foist a mountain of cash onto him.

Shin eyed the thick stack of bills skeptically.  “I don’t think so.”

Kyou rolled his eyes.  “It’s your share of the winnings.  I don’t want to have to track you down tomorrow after I get my money from the cashier.”

“It was your money to start with,” Shin pointed out.  “You should keep the winnings.”

“It was my money to start with, which is why I’m keeping half of the winnings.”

There was actually some logic to that statement.  And, if Shin was being honest, he did still have some outstanding hospital bills that needed to be paid.  His dad would pay them, but that would require Shin telling him what had happened and there was no way that would turn out well.

“Fine,” Shin said, taking the money.

Kyou, who was starting to look angry in a way that probably hadn’t boded well for Shin’s health, relaxed.

A few minutes later Kyou was sauntering his way through the red light district as scantily clad women on every corner cooed his name.  After a block of this, he seemed to hit his breaking point.  Clutching his hands to his chest and with hearts in his eyes, he gushed, “Awwwww, I’m sorry ladies!  I promise I’ll drop in soon!”

Shin rolled his eyes.  _Idiot._

On the other hand, he wasn’t exactly upset to be passing all of these women by.  Maybe he’d misunderstood what Kyou had meant when he promised women?  “Where are we going?”

“Heaven,” Kyou said, coming to a stop.  “Here it is.”

Shin looked up to see that they’d stopped in front of a Soapland and suddenly several thoughts came together at once:

            Kuma wouldn’t tell anyone what his mom did for a living.

            Kuma’s mom knew Yamaguchi.

            Yamaguchi was connected to the yakuza.

            There seemed to be only one job for women in the yakuza.

“No!” he said, taking a step back.  “I mean, no thanks.”

Kyou scoffed.  “Don’t worry about it.  This place is safe.  My men run it.”

“That means it’s run by the yakuza!  That’s the opposite of safe!”

Kyou merely wrapped an arm around Shin’s shoulders and hauled him inside.  “Yo, Numata,” he said to the guy at the reception desk.  “Give my friend here a good girl.”

“No, really!” Shin said.  “I don’t care about women!”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Kyou said.  “You’re a man, aren’t you?  And a smart man keeps his skills polished with women.  Otherwise, you end up wasting your life with _worthless_ women!”

Shin stared at him.  “…what?”

“Besides!  Saying you don’t have any interest in women is an insult to the women who work here.  Is that what you’re trying to do?”

“I…no?”

The receptionist cleared his throat.  “I’m sorry to interrupt this – this very meaningful and valuable lecture, aniki.  However, we only have two women at the moment, Toshiko-chan and Alice-chan.”

Kyou’s eyes narrowed.  “Hm.  Well, my guest gets the best.”  He smacked his hand against Shin’s arm hard enough to make it go numb.  “I guess I’ll just have to give up Alice-chan for you.”  He grabbed Shin’s now-numb arm and pulled him down the hallway to second door.  Opening it up, he shoved Shin inside.  “Alice-chan’s a technician!  She’ll help you get rid of your stress down there.”

Shin shoved himself upright from the tile floor, feeling a bruise starting on his tailbone.  _What a pushy guy_ , he thought as he took in the room.  He’d heard about places like these.  From what he heard, men came to get baths with women serving as naked human sponges.  Sex usually followed though, unlike the naked bathing, paid sex was actually illegal.

While Shin could see the theoretical appeal of a naked woman rubbing herself all over him, the actual appeal would most definitely depend on the woman in question.  A complete stranger did _not_ sound appealing.

“Is everything okay?” a woman’s voice asked and Shin turned around to see a large, curvy, middle-aged woman wearing a nurse’s uniform and caked on makeup.  “Oh, wow!” she said.  “You’re young and cute!”  She leered at him and sidled up, her huge breasts bouncing.  “Let me guess, you’re hurt down here.”  She reached for his pants.

“No!” Shin yelped, scrabbling back, only to run into the side of the bathtub.

“Don’t be shy,” she said, somehow getting his pants open before he could stop her.  “Show the nurse where it hurts.”

“Stop!  Please!”

She hesitated and Shin grabbed the side of the tub to yank himself out from under her.  Scrambling to his feet, he threw himself out of the door and slammed it shut behind him.  “I’m sorry!” he shouted, once he was safe.

“Finished already?”

Shin turned to glare at Kyou, who added, “That’s really too fast, you know.”

Shin let his eyes shift over to the perky young blonde curled up to Kyou’s side.  He turned his eyes back to Kyou, who looked a little sheepish.  “Really?” Shin said flatly.

Kyou cleared his throat.

Shin turned on his heel and stalked off, putting his clothing back together.

“Hey, hey, wait up,” Kyou said, catching up to him outside.  “What was that?  Do you really hate women?”

“I don’t hate them, but…”  Shin was _not_ going to admit he was a virgin.  Not to _Kyou_.  “I can’t just get in the mood when a strange woman is touching me all of a sudden.  Us young guys are sensitive.”

“Uh-huh,” Kyou said doubtfully.  “Well, why don’t we get a drink, then?”

Shin eyed him suspiciously.  “I’m getting a little tired.”

“You just said you’re young,” Kyou pointed out.  “Besides, I know just the place.  It’s a regular bar.”

~~~

Kyou’s “regular bar” turned out to be a hostess club called Club Yasue.  Shin sighed, but decided not to kick up any more of a fuss.  At least here the sex would be a little less blatant and he wouldn’t get shoved into a room with prostitute.  Probably.

Of course, that didn’t stop Kyou from cramming money into the girls’ clothing and feeling up their asses.  Shin tried not to watch as he took the glass of cognac a hostess offered and he tried to ignore the two women sitting next to him as well.

By the time a woman in a kimono came by and introduced herself as Yasue, Shin was on his third glass and feeling very fuzzy.  The women next to him had shifted a lot closer, too, with one sitting on his lap and one curled around his arm, pressing her breasts tight against his body.

Shin took another big gulp of cognac.  He still wasn’t very happy with the taste, but it helped distract him from girls’ groping.

He didn’t remember much after that.

~~~

Shin woke to the sound of screeching.  He blearily opened his eyes and immediately regretted it as it caused a searing headache.  His tongue felt dry and fuzzy and the taste in his mouth made him want to gag.

A very angry face hovered over his.  Yamaguchi.

_Shit._   Shin closed his eyes.

Hands like iron claws grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

“No,” Shin moaned.

The shaking intensified, wreaking havoc on his stomach.  Shin turned his head as best he could and vomited.

The screeching started up again.  Shin made out the word “Kyou” a couple of times, but that was all.  A moment later he heard pounding footsteps leaving his room.

The smell of vomit was making him want to retch again.  Shin opened his eyes and forced himself to keep them open, no matter how much it hurt.

Quiet footsteps made him look at the door.  An old man stood there, wearing traditional clothing.  He was handsome, despite his years, and he emanated an aura of quiet strength.

Shin blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating.  “Hello?” he croaked.

The man smiled.  “Hello.  How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” Shin said, too miserable to say anything but the truth.

“I’m sure.”  The man stepped closer.  “Unfortunately, you aren’t going to be able to stay here to recover.  I think it’s best for everyone if you’re gone before my granddaughter returns.”

His granddaughter.  _His granddaughter._   That meant this was Yamaguchi’s grandfather, which meant…  Shin forced himself to sit up, gulping down some bile that tried to inch up his throat.  “I’m sorry, sir—”

Grandpa held up his hand.  “No need and no time.  It’s not going to take her long to realize that Kyou has escaped.  Go out that door.  Someone will meet you out front to drive you where you need to go.”

Shin glanced at the vomit.  He really should clean that up.”

“No time,” Grandpa said again, implacable as the ocean.  “Go.”

Shin went.


	13. The Fight for Shirokin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to CappuccettoRosso - this chapter was a monster to edit!

Tuesday _sucked_.

It all started when Kumiko found Sawada _passed out drunk_ in the ima.  This was him staying out of her business?  And, worse, when she tried to wake him up to ask him what the hell he was doing in her house, he vomited everywhere.

And _then_ , when she went to track down Kyou – because of course this was Kyou’s work, who else could it be? – she came back to find that Sawada had snuck out, leaving Minoru to clean up his mess.

So, to recap, before breakfast she had found a drunken student in the living room, had run around trying to find that miserable bastard Kyou, had _failed_ to find Kyou (that miserable bastard), and had discovered that her drunken student had disappeared.

Of course, all of that made her late for work!  And Sawada didn’t even show up for class!  _Again!_

Kyou stayed missing all Tuesday evening, which meant Kumiko went to bed steaming and woke up still pissed.  Deciding to share her shitty mood, she got up, stomped to Kyou’s room, and slammed the screen open.  Kyou sat bolt upright, looked at her, and said, “Oh shit.”

“‘Oh shit’ is right,” Kumiko said.  “What the fuck happened on Monday night?”

Kyou rubbed his face.  He looked exhausted, but then he’d probably come home really late to avoid Kumiko’s wrath.  “It’s not as bad as you think.  He saved my life and I took him out for a few drinks.”

She gaped at him.  “He _saved your life_?”

“There was a fight.  Three on one.  I had it under control, but I didn’t see a guy coming up behind me with a knife.”

Kumiko scowled.  “Cowardly, honorless asshole.”

Kyou gave her a fond, proud smile.  “Exactly.  Sawada was apparently walking past and he called out a warning.  When he saw I had my hands full, he stopped the knife guy.”

Kumiko’s gut clenched.  “He _what_?”

“It was _fine_ ,” Kyou said.  “He’s a good fighter.  A good kid.”

“Who you got drunk,” Kumiko said flatly.

“Well, I didn’t say he could hold his liquor.”

“Hm.”

Kyou glanced at his clock.  “Don’t you have to be at school soon?”

Kumiko looked at the clock and swore.  She pointed her finger at Kyou.  “No more knife fights with my students!  No more drinking!”

“Sure,” Kyou said.  “But I think you’re underestimating the kid.”

Kumiko scoffed and went to get dressed.

She could hear the last bell for class as she parked her car and sprinted for the entrance, calling out some tardy students along the way.

 _Crap_ , she thought as she saw the principal up ahead, between her and the entrance to the building.  She put on her best smile.  “Principal, good mor—”

Her voice cut off as she realized that the principal was at least six inches too tall!  She startled back.  “You baldy!  I knew there was something weird about you!”

The man gaped.  “W-what?  How rude!”

Kumiko gaped back.  “What?”  She looked a little closer.  “You are Principal Shirokawa, aren’t you?”

“No!” the man snapped back.  “Why would you think that?”

Kumiko raised her eyebrows.  “Because… you look exactly like him?”

The man turned on his heel.  “Come with me.  Now!”

Kumiko glared at the back of his head, but followed.

Sure enough, when they reached the principal’s office, there was the principal.  He looked exactly like the stranger, except six inches shorter.  “Ganichiro!” the principal said, his voice a strange mix of affection and nervousness.  “What a surprise!”

 _Shirokawa Ganichiro.  Why does that name sound so familiar?_   Suddenly it came to her.  _Oh, shit._   “Mr. Chairman,” Kumiko said.  “…what a surprise.”

The chairman dropped down on the sofa with a huff.  “I can’t believe such a rude person is a teacher.”

Kumiko started to apologize, bowing.

The chairman spoke right over her.  “Though I guess she’s a good fit for this place.  A worthless teacher for worthless students.”

Kumiko snapped out of her bow.  “What did you say?”

The principal immediately got in front of her.  “Class has started, hasn’t it?  You can go now, Yamaguchi-sensei!”

Kumiko gritted her teeth, but the principal wasn’t wrong about the time.  “Excuse me,” she bit out, turning toward the door.

As she walked, she heard the principal ask why the chairman was there.  She’d just made it out the door when she heard the principal shout, “WHAT?”

Kumiko froze, just to the left of the doorframe. 

“We want you to stop recruitment for next year,” the chairman said.  “It was decided at the last board meeting.”

“But that means we’re _closing down_!” the principal yelled.

“It can’t be helped,” the chairman said.  “Student numbers have been falling and we’re hemorrhaging money.  The Shirakawa group has no more intention of supporting this school.”  He sighed.  “You know as well as I do, there are fewer children today than there were twenty years ago.  Every school is having to make hard decisions about survival.  Some are turning into elite academies, some are focusing on sports, some are turning co-ed.  Some schools are successful.  Shirokin, on the other hand, has been a continuous failure.  Our students are worthless and—”

Oh, the hell with that.  Kumiko shoved the door open.  “Hold it right there!”

“Yamaguchi-sensei,” the principal yelped.  “You’re still here?”

Meanwhile, the chairman was turning red.  “Eavesdropping is a serious…”

“Fuck you!” Kumiko shouted at him.  “You say our students are worthless?  Jump off a cliff, you piece of shit!  So what if some schools are producing top athletes or brilliant scholars!  There’s something a lot more important in the middle of people’s stomachs than sports or scores!”

“I-in the middle of the stomach?” the principal repeated.  “I… did I hear that right?”

But Kumiko wasn’t stopping to explain.  “You brothers are old, but you learned nothing!  I’m talking about the fire god in your gut!”

The two men stared.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the chairman said.  “But I can’t run a school based on a… stomach fire god.”

Kumiko stopped and eyed him up and down, judging.  “Yeah, I’m getting that.  All you care about is that the school’s reputation improves.  That we manage to be number one in _something_ , right?”

The chairman snorted.  “As if these students could be number one in anything.”

“They can do anything if they put their minds to it!” Kumiko snapped back.

“Ha!”

“They can!”

“Impossible!”

Kumiko swallowed down a triumphant smile.  “So if they can, you won’t close down the school, right?”

“Right!”  The chairman stopped.  “I mean…”

Kumiko smirked.  Time to go in for the kill.  Glancing around, she saw a pile of paper on the principal’s desk.  “Right.  I’ll let you do the writing for the contract.”

The chairman gaped at her.  “Contract?  What contract?”

She got her face right up in his.  “ _Are you saying you can’t even keep a promise?  Are you about to commit FRAUD?_ ”

He jumped back in his seat, his eyes bulging out in fear.  Kumiko shoved the paper at him.  The principal carefully held out a pen.  The chairman snatched both and stomped to the desk.

“Fine.  However, this will be limited to a _respectable_ arena: academics, sports, or arts.  And you don’t have forever!  Recruitment was due to start in two months.  You have until then.”

“Great!” Kumiko said, snatching the paper the moment the chairman stopped writing.  Best not to give him a chance to think this through too hard.  “I’ll take it from here.”

She slammed the door as she went out and smirked as the sound of the chairman’s shouting followed her down the hallway.

~~~

In all of the drama, Kumiko missed homeroom and arrived late for first period math.  Even after she arrived, she was distracted until she was able to talk with her fellow teachers at the lunch break.

“Close down Shirokin,” breathed Iwamoto, looking horrified.  Kumiko wondered if he was worried about his job.  Usually a teaching career was for life, though the schools you taught at would change.  If schools were actually shutting down, though, some staff might actually lose their jobs.

“Yeah, but I think I found us a loophole?”

Fujiyama raised her eyebrows.  “A loophole?  How?”

“Uh… well, the discussion got a bit heated and, well… it sort of slipped out.”

“What slipped out?” Iwamoto asked skeptically.

“A challenge?  There’s even a contract.  Here.”

She handed the contract to Fujiyama, who read it out loud.  “‘If the students of Shirokin become number one in Japan in one way or another, Shirokin High will remain open next year.  This contract only applies to the fields of academics, sport, or the arts and will be valid for two months.’”  She glanced at the signature.  “It’s dated today.”

“Two months from today?” Hatta repeated dubiously.

Iwamoto suddenly stood up tall.  “Let’s not lose heart!  It’s better to fight to achieve something than doing nothing at all for the next two months.”

The teachers agreed, some more enthusiastically than others.  Kumiko was touched by their passion.

She was dramatically less impressed with her students.  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Minami yelled.

“Hey,” she said back.  “We’re doing this for you!  If we don’t do something, the school will get shut down.”

“Who gives a shit?” Noda asked.  There was a murmur of general agreement in the classroom about the worthlessness of Shirokin.

Kumiko scowled.  “Nonsense!  Having a school to remember is important!  Just think how you’ll feel when you come back in ten years to dig up your time capsules and find the place bulldozed.  You’d cry, right?”

She looked at the class to see them staring back at her.  “Time capsules,” someone repeated incredulously.

“Didn’t you bury time capsules?”  What a shame.  Kumiko was looking forward to digging up her time capsule from high school.  Though, now that she thought about it, Kyou was the one to tell her about that tradition and she wasn’t entirely sure he finished high school.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Ucchi said.  “What can we do in two months?  That’s not enough time to become number one in anything.”

Kumiko immediately forgot about the time capsule.  “Only a man with no golden balls would give up without trying.”

The class gaped at her.  She could hear a couple of guys whisper, “…did she say golden balls?  No.  We must’ve misunderstood.”

She sighed.  “Fine.  If you don’t try, I’m going to fail you for the year.”

The shrieks that followed were encouraging.  At least she had their attention!

~~~

Of course, coming up with something that the students of Shirokin could excel at was challenging, to say the least.  Kumiko watched with incredulity as Iwamoto announced his intention to teach the boys rugby, Kouda offered to create a water polo team, and Fujiyama declared that the chorus club would win the next regional competition.

More promising was Hatta’s plan to register Tsuruta for a martial arts competition and to help him train.  If Tsuruta were anyone else, Kumiko might hang her hopes there, but she was well aware that fighting was more than just strength, especially at the higher levels.  Tsuruta just didn’t have the brains to make it all the way.

Which meant it was up to her to come up with the plan that would succeed.  Unfortunately, she was completely out of ideas.  She loved her students, but she wasn’t blind to their weaknesses, including their utter lack of talent at anything other than getting into trouble.

She wandered up to the roof in the hopes of finding inspiration.  She found Sawada instead, which was nearly as good.  “Sawada Shin!”  She paused.  “Wait a minute.  Why weren’t you in class today?”

Sawada didn’t bother to get up from his supine position, nor did he bother to open his eyes.  “Didn’t have the energy.”

She stared at him incredulously.  “But you’re already here!  All you had to do was come downstairs.”

He didn’t answer.

Kumiko growled under her breath.  “Are you still hungover?”

His eyes popped open.  “It’s been two days!”

“You were very, very drunk,” she pointed out.

He scooted upright and sat back against the solid half-wall that ran around the edge of the roof, holding up the railing.  “Are you still pissed at me?”

“Nah.”  She moved to lean against the railing, enjoying the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.  “I talked to Kyou-san.  He said you saved his life and that he talked you into coming with him.  I’ll forget the drinks this time.”  She looked down at him pointedly, making sure he understood that there would not be a next time.

He looked pensive.

“What?” Kumiko asked suspiciously.  “Did something else happen?”

“Uh, no.  Anyway, what are you doing up here?”

“Oh.”  She sighed and explained the situation.  “So?” she asked when she was done.  “What do you think we should do?”

He scowled.  “Why do you keep coming to me with these questions?”

She shrugged.  “Sometimes you have answers.  Besides, the other boys listen to you.”

If anything, he scowled harder at that.  Still, he did think for a few seconds before saying, “What about a fight club?”

She scowled back.  “Hey, I’m being serious here.”

“So am I,” Sawada said, standing up.  “The students at Shirokin have one skill.  If you need us to win at something, it’s going to be at fighting.”

Kumiko growled, but acknowledged that he had a point.

“What about boxing?” Sawada offered.

“That’s a sport,” Kumiko pointed out.  “That’s different from fighting.”

“Close enough,” Sawada said.  “And it’s the best idea I have.”

He wandered off, leaving Kumiko to turn the idea over in her head.  On the one hand, it was a pretty good idea.  On the other hand, she didn’t know a damn thing about boxing herself, except that it had some sort of rules that had to be followed.  There was one guy in the kumi, though…  “Sawada!” she shouted.

Sawada stopped while reaching for the door.  “What?” he asked warily.

“Gather everyone who looks like a boxer!  We’ll meet up in the gym after school tomorrow!”

He let an audible groan, but Kumiko kindly overlooked that in her satisfaction at having found the perfect solution.

~~~

After school that afternoon, she headed over to Wakamatsu’s place.  In addition to his duties as third in command of the Kuroda family, Wakamatsu ran a bail bonds shop.  Even after paying his dues to the family, Kumiko knew Wakamatsu did quite well financially.  When coupled with Yasue’s income and their formidable combined skill with money, the Wakamatsus had become very rich.  They seemed to love their work and they were very loyal to Kuroda, but sometimes Kumiko wondered how much of that loyalty was to the kumi and how much was to Grandpa.

Just one of the many worries of succession.  Kumiko mostly tried not to think about her own role in the succession of the Kuroda leadership, but she couldn’t deny that a lot of people would have been happy if the Uma-no-o omiai had been successful.  Even if Uma-no-o was a borderline buffoon, at least then there would be some certainty about the future.  Nothing was scarier than the unknown.

 _A worry for another day_ , Kumiko told herself firmly as she reached Wakamatsu’s neighborhood.  The future of Shirokin was enough to worry about for now.

She heard shouting as she approached the bonds shop and when she stepped inside she wasn’t surprised to find Wakamatsu holding onto a bloody man.  The bail bonds and the short term loans were the bloodiest lines of business in the Kuroda family and, as such, she’d been forbidden to even visit those shops as a child.  Of course, that had just made her curious and she spent a lot of years trying to sneak her way in.

These days, she had rather more sympathy for the bonds and loan clients than was really appropriate, so she stayed away of her own accord.  Still, she had the right to walk into any business in the kumi and sure enough, Wakamatsu greeted her with a smile.  “Welcome, Ojou!”  He handed his victim off to Tetsu, who earned his dues money by hiring out as a bruiser for a variety of Kuroda businesses.

“What can I do for you?” Wakamatsu asked, turning his full attention on Kumiko.  In the background, Tetsu set to threatening the client.

Kumiko tuned him out.  “You have a bodyguard named Maruta, right?  I was wondering if I could borrow him for a couple of months.”

Wakamatsu looked skeptical.  “You mean Carlos?  If you want him, you can have him, but he’s pretty useless.”

“But he was a boxer, right?”

“Yeah.  He was a pro at one point.  Strong at fighting but very, very dumb.”

Kumiko smiled; that description could apply to a few of her students.  “Perfect.  Call him up for me; he and I need to talk.”

~~~

The next day Kumiko hurried to the gym.  She slapped her handwritten boxing club sign on the door – including Sawada as team captain; she wasn’t about to give up any advantage in getting guys into the club – and then ran to the back door.  Carlos was just outside.  Kumiko looked him up and down dubiously.  He was wearing a suit and a floral tie.  “Um.  Come in.  And please tell me you brought a change of clothes.”

He held up a gym bag that had been resting by his feet and stepped inside.  “Ojou.  Thank you for this opportunity to show my worth.”  Just like yesterday, he spoke in a monotone that was really off-putting.

She gritted her teeth, hoping it looked like a smile.  Grandpa wasn’t going to be very happy about the bait she’d used to get Carlos to agree to this.  Still, she’d only promised to _talk_ to Grandpa about letting Carlos join the kumi as a full member; she hadn’t promised to _succeed_.

Fortunately, at that moment she heard noises in the hallway.  “The boys are here,” she said quickly.  “Wait here and I’ll go let them in.”

In the hallway, she was pleased to find six boys waiting.  That was far more than she expected.  Admittedly, one of those boys was Sawada, who looked pissed.  “Yamaguchi!” he snapped.  “Who the hell said I was going to be captain?”

“Oh, who cares,” she said back.  “It’s not like it matters.  I just needed a name.”

“But I never said I was going to be on the team!  You can’t make me captain if I’m not on the team!”

“Let’s talk about it later.  Did you find anyone useful?”

Sawada growled, undoubtedly recognizing that when she said “later” what she really meant was “never”.  Well, no one had ever accused _him_ of being stupid.  “I found two boys who’ve been going to a boxing gym for a while.”

Kumiko beamed at him and patted him on the shoulder.  “That’s the spirit of leadership!”

“I will literally kill you,” he snarled.

Kumiko waved that off and turned to the other boys.  “Guess what?  I found you a coach!  A real pro!”

As if he’d been listening – which he very well might have been – Carlos stepped out of the gym.

The boys flinched back.

“Hello,” Carlos said in his creepy monotone.  “My name is Maruto Nurio-sensei.  I am an ex-pro-boxer.  My ring name was Carlos Shou.”

“Holy shit, no matter how you look at him, he’s clearly a yakuza!” Noda said.

“Where the hell did you find him?” Minami asked Kumiko.

“Uh… I’m not sure what you guys are talking about.  He looks perfectly normal to me.”

So thoroughly had she sold her cover for the last few months, that the boys actually bought that bit of bullshit.  Minami turned back to Carlos.  “Uh, coach?  How long were you fighting as a pro?  What was your rank?”

Carlos stood tall and his voice gained a slight shade of energy.  “I was once asked by the ex-QA Champion Haniheri Gomegomesu to lose a fight in Mexico!”

Kumiko stifled a groan.  The boys looked confused.  “…is that good?” Ucchi asked.

“Of course it is!” Carlos said, positively animated now and gesturing with his hands.  “If I hadn’t accepted that request, I would have been the world champion!”

Ucchi yelped.  “Coach!  Your pinky’s half gone!”

There was a really awkward silence.  “I… was cooking?”

No one was quite ballsy enough to say it out loud, but their expressions all clearly read: LIAR!

“Anyway,” Kumiko said hastily.  “I hope you all brought gym clothes.  We’re going to get started right away.”

There was a long pause.  Kumiko looked at Sawada pointedly.  He huffed out a sigh, but headed for the locker rooms.  Everyone else immediately followed.

Kumiko beamed.  This was going great!

Once everyone was dressed in exercise clothes, Kumiko looked them over.  They were a bit raggedy, but at least they were present and seemed engaged.  She mentally patted herself on the back.  The snarling stew of teenage rage and hormones she’d met on her first day of school would never have shown up for a voluntary after-school activity, _especially_ not if the purpose was to save their school.  No matter how things turned out, she could at least know that she’d made a difference in her boys.

Of course, if she said that out loud, they’d all run away screaming, so instead she announced, “It looks like we’re all here.”

“Wait, what?” Noda said.

“Is this everyone?” Ucchi asked.

“The point is,” Sawada said before Kumiko could point out that six students was way more than she’d expected.  “How, exactly, are we going to become the strongest in Japan in less than two months?”

Kumiko winced.  He _would_ go right to the heart of the weakest part of her plan.  “Well, I looked into it and it seems like the national senior-high boxing competition was just held, so it won’t happen again until next year.”

“So we’re screwed,” Noda said.

“Uh, I think we would’ve been screwed if they held it in two months,” Minami pointed out.

Kumiko ignored them.  “So I called Yabuki High and they agreed to hold a game with us later next month.”

“Yabuki High!” Yamazaki, one of the new boys, yelped.

“You’ve heard of them,” Kumiko said, pleased.

“They’re the national champions!” Yamano, the other new boy, said.  “Even their bench warmers are strong!”

“Exactly,” Kumiko said.  “That’s why winning against them would make us number one.”

“…do you really think that will count?” Noda asked.

“I’ll _make_ it count,” Kumiko promised him.

“Which only matters if we win,” Yamano said.  “Which we won’t.”

“We have a better chance this way than we would at a national tournament,” Kumiko said.

“…she does have a point,” Minami admitted.

“No, she doesn’t!”  Yamano said.  “We can’t win either way!”

Carlos distracted Kumiko from the burgeoning argument by asking again about Grandpa bestowing family bonds on him.  Kumiko picked her words carefully.  “Depending on the outcome, I will talk to my grandfather about it.”

His entire face lit up with enthusiasm and he double fist pumped.  “Awesome!”

Kumiko sighed.

Carlos opened his gym bag and pulled out a punching ball.  “For a family bond with the Kumichou-san, I’m going to take this seriously!”

The boys exclaimed over the punching ball and even Kumiko was impressed.  Frankly, she hadn’t expected this much from Carlos.  “Where can we hang it?” she asked, looking around the gym for the best location.

“Oh, we don’t need to worry about that,” Carlos said, and he flung the ball into Ucchi’s face.  Before Ucchi hit the floor, the ball was flying at Noda. 

Sawada just barely managed to avoid getting whacked by the ball as Kumiko screamed, “Carlos!  What the hell are you doing?”

Carlos rubbed the back of his head.  “But Ojou—”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

“—Sensei,” he hastily corrected.  “If we train normally, there’s no way we can win in only two months.  The only chance they have is to become hit-tolerant.”

Kumiko hesitated, struck by the truth of the statement.  “That’s actually a good point.”

“No way!” Ucchi yelled.  “We’d die before the game!”

Kumiko had to acknowledge the truth of that statement as well.  “What if you focus on regular techniques and maybe just a little of the hit-tolerance technique?”

“Of course,” Carlos said.  “After all, they have to make it look good.”

Fortunately, none of the boys – other than Sawada – seemed to take that as anything other than a promise to make them good boxers.

~~~

And so they trained.  Carlos “found” some snazzy boxing gear, so the boys at least looked like boxers.  He taught them the fine art of intimidation and the boys spent two full weeks going around making revolting faces at each other.  He made them go running once, and was forbidden to do so again after leading the boys into a pachinko parlor.  It was a busy two months.

While the boxing training was underway, Kumiko got to see the outcome of the other teachers’ efforts.  Rugby looked promising enough in training, but the team’s reaction to losing their first game resulted in half a dozen of the opposing players going to the hospital and a lifetime rugby ban for the school.  Water polo didn’t even make it out of training, as it was discovered that not a single student at the school knew how to swim, making Kumiko wonder what the purpose of the school’s pool was in the first place.  The chorus club did manage to get an award but, based on Fujiyama’s reaction, the “Special Choice Unique Character Award” was not going to count for much in a national ranking.

Their last and best hope other than the boxing team was Tsuruta.  He actually managed as far as the quarter-finals before he got knocked out by a savvier opponent.  Kumiko was touched when none of the students picked on Tsuruta for losing.  Considering it was his first ever significant loss, she thought he was handling it well.  Hard to tell for sure, however, as he really only had one expression.

All of which meant it was down to the six students on the boxing team to save the school.  As they walked to Yabuki High, Kumiko felt like she was leading troops to war.  War at a much better funded school.  Even Kumiko couldn’t help looking around in amazement at the professional-level boxing gym.

“Wow,” Ucchi said.

“Yeah,” Noda agreed.

“Where is everyone?” Minami asked.

Kumiko stopped staring at the color-coordinated boxing ring and heavy bags and glanced around the room.  Sure enough, there were only a few students there and all of them looked on the young side for high school.  She frowned and went looking for an adult.

In the end, she found Coach Kamei working with a student in a _second_ boxing ring, which was just excessive.  He appeared to have completely forgotten that they were coming, though he tried to pass off the low attendance as some sort of urgent last-minute meeting for the older students.

“But even our first years are good,” he reassured her.  “One of them is a bronze medalist.”

Kumiko glanced around the room.  She could only see four first years.  “Do you have enough for a full team?  If there’s a 2-2 tie, you won’t have enough students for a fifth bout.”

Kamei looked incredulous.  “A draw?  I don’t think we need to worry about that.”

Kumiko crossed her arms and waited.

After a minute, he rolled his eyes.  “Okay.  In the case of a draw, I’ll enter the ring myself.”

“Perfect!” Kumiko said and walked off before she succumbed to the temptation to punch the arrogant ass in the nose.

She got back to the boys to find that they were all wearing athletic shorts with embroidery on the waistbands.  “Uh… Carlos?  What’s up with these shorts?”

Carlos looked a little embarrassed.  “The guys kept saying they wanted a ring name, so last night I…”  He shrugged.

Kumiko smiled at him.  “So you made them personalized shorts.”

“I guess I feel close to them now that we’ve spent so much time together.”

Aw.  Maybe Carlos wasn’t such a bad guy after all.  Kumiko blinked back a sentimental tear or two and pulled herself back in the game.  “Okay.  Do we have any chance at all?”

“Yes!” Carlos said, and he actually sounded like he meant it.  “If we’re up against first years, Yamazaki’s sure to win.  And while I don’t know much about these guys we’re boxing, I’m sure either Yamano or Sawada will win.  That gives us two.”

Two guaranteed fights out of five wasn’t bad, Kumiko thought.  Way better than she had expected, really.  “What about the other three?”

“Well, Minami hurt his wrist yesterday, so it’s going to be Ucchi and Noda.  I’m not sure how they’ll do.  We’ll have to see the other fighters, first.”

At that moment, the referee – these guys had a fucking on-staff referee, what the fuck? – called the first two fighters to the ring.  Yamazuki bumped fists with his teammates and climbed into the ring.  He faced off against his opponent and Kamei rang the bell.

Five seconds later, Yamazuki was on the mat, unconscious.

Kumiko stared at the ring in horror as behind her she heard fleeing footsteps and Ucchi shouting, “Yamano’s escaped!”

 _Well, shit,_ she thought, feeling all of her hope fading away into nothing.

The referee called for the second boxers and Noda, visibly shaken, crept up into the ring.

Two seconds after the bell was rung, he was lying on the mat as well.

Kumiko swore as the Yabuki students started wandering off to train, clearly thinking that this match was in the bag.  Carlos made everything worse by offering to start cutting into students, revealing he’d brought a fucking knife to a high school boxing match.

Ucchi came up.  “Is it my turn?”

Kumiko swallowed a groan.  Ucchi was their worst fighter; the only reason he was boxing was that Minami had hurt himself.  “Yeah, it is.”

“Great!  Can I kill that poor bastard?”

Kumiko sighed.  “Sure.”

Ucchi yelped in excitement and grabbed the side of the ring to jump in.  His foot caught on the rope and he dropped down to the mat, nose-first.

“Oh, God,” Kumiko muttered.

Ucchi jumped right back up, blood pouring from his nose.  “Bring it on!” he shouted.

“…do you think he planned that?” Carlos asked.

Kumiko gritted her teeth.

The bell rang and the Yabuki fighter punched Ucchi right in his probably-broken nose.  Kumiko sighed as Ucchi went down.  _That’s that, then._

She gasped as Ucchi popped right back up.

Excitement started to build in the gym as Ucchi was knocked down and popped back up again.  And again.  And again.  And _again_.  The Yabuki fighter was starting to sweat as Ucchi kept pushing himself back onto his feet, each time with more and more blood running down his face.

“Hey,” Carlos said, sounding pleased.  “Looks like the punch ball training worked after all.”

“It worked too well!  If he keeps this up, he’s not going to make it!”

“Ucchi!” Minami shouted as another punch sent blood spraying across the mat.  “Stop!”

“Stay down, Uchiyama!” Kumiko added.  “You’ve done enough.”

The referee paused the bout.  “Um… are you okay?” he asked Ucchi.

Ucchi turned and slipped on some blood, causing him to fall into the referee.  The referee fell back under Ucchi’s weight, cracking his head on the Yabuki fighter who was hovering just a little too close behind him.  Both the referee and the fighter dropped to the mat, unconscious.

Ucchi popped back up, looking confused.

There was a long pause.

“We got him!” Kumiko finally shouted.  “He’s down and Uchiyama’s still standing!  He won!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Kamei snapped back.  “That’s clearly a no count!”

Kumiko didn’t know what a no count was, but she knew that if she backed down now then it was game over for Shirokin.  “Shut up!” she yelled at Kamei.  “It’s a down, isn’t it?  Your guy is down!  You got a problem with that, I can bring it all out!  _All_ out!”

“Uh…” Kamei said, looking taken aback.  “…whatever, it’s a practice match.  Next!”

“All right,” Kumiko said, turning to Sawada.  “We’ve finally got a win.  Sort of.  Close enough.  Which means you had better win if it kills you!  You have to take it to a draw!”

“Sure,” Sawada said, his attention firmly fixed on the Yabuki student in the ring.  Someone who didn’t know Sawada very well might be surprised by that focus, but Kumiko knew that, deep down, he was very competitive.  That was what she was counting on.

The match got off to a good start.  For one thing, Yabuki had clearly put their best fighter against Yamazuki, giving Sawada a better chance.  For another, Sawada was quicker on his feet than most of his peers, so he dodged most of the punches thrown his way.

Unfortunately, he had completely declined Carlos’s hit tolerance training and the very first time he took a punch to the face, he fell back into his corner, stunned.  “You have to move your feet more,” Carlos said, jumping forward with a washcloth and a bandage.  After the last bout, the clearly-concussed referee had decreed that any bleeding cuts had to be taken care of _immediately_.

“I know,” Sawada hissed back.

“Hey, Shin,” Kumiko said.

He turned to stare at her.  As she’d hoped, using his first name got his full attention.

“Why are you fighting today?” she asked.

“…what do you mean?”

“We’re not here to play sports,” Kumiko said.  “This isn’t a game to us.  For us, this is a fight for survival.”

He swallowed.  “Yamaguchi…”

“Look at the ref,” she said.  “He’s barely able to stand, much less see what’s going on around him.  This is a fight we’ve got to win.  Screw the rules.  Screw fair play.  Do what you’ve got to do.”

Sawada’s lips curled up into a smile.  “You know, that’s not something a teacher should say.  But I get your point.”

He climbed to his feet and started towards his opponent.  “Ready?” he said, pulling his fist back as if he were going to throw a punch.  Instead, he kneed the Yabuki fighter in the gut.  When the Yabuki fighter doubled over in pain, Sawada brought his elbow down on the boy’s neck.

The Yabuki team broke out into shrieks of protest, but the referee hadn’t even seemed to notice that the fight had resumed, much less that the Yabuki fighter was down.  “Uh, Mr. Referee,” Sawada said in a sickeningly deferential voice.  “My opponent’s down.  Are you okay?”

The referee looked at Sawada, looked at the boy on the mat, and shrugged.  “Winner!” he declared.  “Leonardo Sawada!”

“ _What?_ ” Kamei screeched.

“Wow!” Carlos said.  “We’re doing better than expected.”

“We are,” Kumiko agreed.  “But none of it matters if we don’t win.”  She walked over to the other side of the ring.  “Excuse me.  Isn’t it your turn to get in the ring?”

Kamei turned to face her.  His face was red with fury.  “ _Are you serious?_ ”

“Well, yes.  Unless, of course, you’d like to forfeit.”

“ _No way!_ ”  He took a deep breath.  “We’re _not_ giving up without a fight.  Who’s going to fight on your side?”

“Me,” Kumiko started to say, but Carlos’s voice drowned hers out.  “Me, of course!”

Everyone turned to look at Carlos, who was stripping off his sweat suit to reveal a boxing outfit underneath.

“Really?” Kumiko asked dubiously.  “But hasn’t it been a while since you last fought?”

“Not a problem,” Carlos said firmly.  “You’re talking to an ex-pro.  I won’t lose to someone off the street.”

Kamei glanced over with a smug expression.  “Ex-pro?  And your ring name was Carlos Shou?”  He smirked.  “Never heard of you.”

Carlos snarled.  “Really?  Well, you won’t forget it after today.”

The two men got into the ring and squared off.  Kumiko’s attention was drawn away by a gasp from Yamazuki, who was apparently just waking up.  “What happened to the match?” he asked, looking around frantically.

“Welcome back,” Kumiko said dryly.  “The match isn’t over yet.  It’s a draw, so the coaches are fighting.”

“Coach Carlos is fighting Coach Kamei?  That’s crazy!”

“Don’t worry,” Kumiko said.  “Carlos is an ex-pro.”

“And Kamei-san is an amateur champion!  Everyone says he would’ve been the world champ if he’d decided to go pro!”

“Hey!  Yamaguchi!”

Kumiko turned at Sawada’s shout to see Carlos was tottering around the ring, barely able to hold himself upright.

“Oh, geez,” she muttered as Carlos took another hit and dropped to the floor, blood flowing freely from his face.

All around Kumiko the boys were crying for their fallen coach.  Carlos managed to struggle to his feet, but it was clear he was almost done.  “Shit,” Kumiko murmured.  She turned to Sawada.  “I need you to take everyone home.”

“What?  Right now?”

“Please.”

He glanced between her and the ring, where Carlos was down again.  “…okay.”

Carlos climbed to his feet one last time and started swinging randomly.  Kamei stood to one side, looking confused.

Kumiko glanced around to see that Sawada had been as good as his word.  The boys were gone.  Now in the clear, she took off her jacket and pulled on some gloves.  Since she’d always expected to fight, she had a pair of shorts on under her track suit.

Dressed, she climbed up onto the side of the ring and reached over the top string to smack Carlos’s glove with her own.  “Okay,” she announced, sliding into the ring and discreetly pushing Carlos off.  “We tapped gloves.  My turn.”

“Uh…” the ref said.  “This isn’t wrestling.”

Kamei burst out laughing.  “I don’t mind.  Besides, she seems to be the last one left.  Might as well clear the decks.”

Kumiko smiled as the referee bowed his acceptance.  “Thank you.”

“I admire your persistence,” he said.  “But you’re going to lose.  I can’t let dirty fighters like you win.”

“Fair enough,” Kumiko said.

“Admittedly, I’ve never hit a woman before,” he added.

Kumiko punched him in the face.  “No worries.  I don’t plan to get hit.”

The fight didn’t take very long after that.  Over-confident men were always the easiest to beat, and Kamei’s determination to fight fair against a woman made him even easier.

The gym was silent as the grave as Kamei went down and didn’t get back up.  Even the ref looked taken aback.

“Well,” Kumiko said, propping her gloved hands on her hips.  “I guess that’s the win, right?  How do we go about reporting this?”

~~~

The day that Shirokin’s win was reported in the paper was the start of a beautiful week.  Kumiko gave the principal instructions on how to ensure his brother followed the contract and word soon trickled through the school that recruitment for the next year had begun.  Carlos and the boys had a sad parting and Kumiko thought all of them – including Carlos – were better men for their time together.  Best of all, on Friday after school, Kumiko ran into Shinohara at the train station and he walked her home through an unseasonably late snowfall.

Halfway through that walk was when the week started to turn to shit.

First, it was the fishmonger woman, talking about Kumiko’s non-existent relationship with Shinohara _in front of Shinohara_.  Then she saddled Kumiko with a live crab.  There was no way to have a charming conversation with a live crab in hand and they made awkward small talk all the way to the house.

Where a detective was waiting for them at the door.

The entire incident that followed was, frankly, too embarrassing to even contemplate in detail, from the false accusation against Tetsu, to the changing stories of the witnesses, to the real culprit spontaneously turning himself in for no known reason.  For all of the worry in the moment, it was really just another day in the life of a yakuza and the outcome was far happier than it had any right to be.

No, the real problem was what happened _after_.  As they were walking out of the police station.  When a thin man in an ugly suit _destroyed Kumiko’s world_.

He seemed innocuous at first, just some random guy walking down the street past the police station.  It wasn’t until he said “Senpai?” that Kumiko even looked directly at him.

Next to her, Kumiko felt Shinohara stiffen.  “Hanajima?”

Hanajima looked Shinohara up and down.  “You’ve really… mixed in well, haven’t you?  I guess you’re still working for the yakuza.”

Kumiko cleared her throat pointedly.  “Oh, sorry,” Shinohara said.  “This is Hanajima.  He’s a junior from my college.”

“We were in comedy club together,” Hanajima said.

There was a long, long, _long_ pause.

“Anyway, I’m working at Nakabouda-sensei’s office,” Hanajima said.  “With Atogama-senpai.”

“I see,” Shinohara said neutrally.

“Nakabouda-sensei’s still upset that you quit so suddenly,” Hanajima added.  He paused, as if to allow Shinohara to speak, before asking, “How long do you intend to keep working the way you are, Senpai?”

Kumiko thought Shinohara had been tense before, but now he was like iron.  “It’s none of your business, Hanajima.”  He started walking.  “Excuse me.”

Shinohara only made it a couple of feet before Hanajima started shouting.  “Senpai!  Do you really think this is good for you?”

Kumiko stared at Shinohara, her heart in her throat.

“Yes,” he gritted out.

“But what about your dreams?” Hanajima asked.  “Your ideals?”

Shinohara laughed humorlessly.  “People change, Hanajima.  So do dreams and ideals.  There is more than one path to take.  This is mine.”

“But…” Hanajima murmured.  “Senpai…”

“Come on, Kumiko-chan,” Shinohara said, walking away.

Kumiko hesitated before following.

That night she thought long and hard about what she knew about Shinohara.  She knew that he’d been working his way through college.  She knew that he’d been set upon by ruffians and that Grandpa had saved him.  She knew Grandpa had given Shinohara money so that he could quit his job and focus on school – one of those random acts of kindness that made Grandpa so popular.  She knew that, years later, when Grandpa was in serious danger of going to jail, Shinohara had appeared out of the blue, a fully licensed attorney, and managed to work a miracle to keep Grandpa free.  She knew he’d stayed on ever since, though by any angle his debt to Grandpa had long since been paid.

She knew he was single.  That he had no friends outside the kumi.  That he’d never, to her knowledge, gone to visit his family. 

It had never occurred to her before to wonder if he missed his old life.

It had never occurred to her before to wonder if he was lonely.

The next day Kumiko got up early, went to the Nakabouda law office, and skulked around outside.  It was a gamble, but Hanajima seemed like the sort of guy who worked weekends.

Sure enough, just before 8 a.m. Hanajima appeared.  Kumiko called out his name and he turned.  “Oh,” he said, sounding nonplussed.  “You’re Shinohara-senpai’s girlfriend.”

Kumiko choked.  “No!  I mean… he works for my grandfather.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding even more confused.  “What can I do for you?”

Kumiko opened her mouth and decided to ease into her real question by asking, “Did Shinohara-sensei really want to become a comedian?”

Hanajima rolled his eyes, which was definitely better than looking confused.  “Of course not.  He needed an extracurricular activity and the comedy club had the least time commitment.”

Kumiko let out a theatrical sigh of relief, which had the side effect of Hanajima looking more comfortable.  Probably he thought she was an idiot.  “Okay, then, if you don’t mind my asking,” she said.  “What was Sensei’s dream?”

For better or worse – probably better, since he was a lawyer – Hanajima wasn’t as foolish as the principal’s brother and he didn’t fall for the trick.  Instead, he paused for several seconds before saying, “Before I answer that, I have a question of my own.  How did Senpai get involved in the yakuza?”

Kumiko raised her eyebrows, but told him the story of Shinohara’s rescue and the money Grandpa had given him.  As she talked, Hanajima nodded to a small park next to the law office and they walked in that direction.  It was only when he had sat down on a bench with clear sightlines to the front of the office that it occurred to Kumiko that he might’ve been seeking privacy for Shinohara’s story.

Interesting.  Not only was he smarter than Kumiko had given him credit for, but it looked like he might truly have Shinohara’s best interests at heart.

“So he’s paying your grandfather back,” Hanajima said, sounding thoughtful.  “Even though there’s no official debt.  That’s very Senpai-like.”  He let out a sigh.  “I admit, I am relieved.  I thought he was being blackmailed or threatened by a loan shark, like his father.”

“My grandfather wouldn’t do something like that!” Kumiko snapped instinctively, though in her heart she knew the lines around yakuza lending could get very blurry.  Then the rest of his statement registered.  “Wait, what about his father?”

Hanajima eyed her.  “Don’t you know why Senpai became a lawyer?  It was because he borrowed money from a yakuza loan shark to invest in a friend’s business.  The business went under, but that didn’t matter to the loan shark.  If Senpai’s father had borrowed the money from a bank, he could have worked out a payment plan or a seizure of collateral or even declared bankruptcy.  Because it was the yakuza, they wouldn’t take any deal he offered, not his house, not his possessions, not even his business.  They came in the night and beat him up and threatened his family.

“In the end, Senpai’s family lost everything.  They had to sell their house and the business and all of the kids had to start working to pay the debt.  It kept his father alive, but it broke the spirit of the family.

“That’s why Senpai decided to become a lawyer.  He told everyone who asked that he wanted to help victims like his father.  That’s what he was doing when he joined the Nakabouta Law Firm.  Any case involving the yakuza went straight to him and he worked day and night to help their victims.

“But look at him now!  One day he walks in white as a sheet and quits and the next thing we hear, he’s working for a yakuza group!  I don’t care what he says, a person doesn’t change that much overnight.  He doesn’t throw away his beliefs on a whim.”

Hanajima stood up and bowed slightly.  “Thank you for answering my questions about Senpai and for listening to his story.  If you care for him, and I think you do, I ask that you let him return to his work.  He was making a difference in people’s lives.  Don’t let him throw that away for a debt that must be long since paid.”

Without waiting for a response, he walked away.

Kumiko sank down onto the bench he’d just vacated and thought and thought and thought.

~~~

It was dark by the time she got home.  Shinohara was there.  In that way he was like Hanajima, working nights and weekends to ensure success for his client.  She’d always assumed he did that because he liked them, that he liked being in the house.  Maybe she’d always been wrong.  Maybe it had never been anything to him, other than paying back a debt.

“Shinohara-sensei,” she said as she caught him walking down the hall.

He turned and smiled at her.  “Welcome back.”

Kumiko felt her heart lurch.  He was so kind and so handsome.  She didn’t want to do this.

But she had to.

“Sensei, do you remember back when I told you I wanted to be a teacher?”

He frowned slightly, confused.  “Of course.”

“You cheered me on.”

“Yes.  What brought this up?”

“You!  Throwing away your own dream!”

“Ah.”  He looked down.  “I guess you talked to Hanajima.”

Kumiko felt her eyes burning, but she forged ahead.  “I know you wanted to repay Grandpa, but you’ve done more than enough.  Isn’t it time to go back to your chosen path?”

He looked back up at her and she could see the moment he decided to play this off.  “Hey now, you’re not going to fire me, are you?”

“Yes!” she all but shouted.  Her vision was getting blurry, but she forced herself to continue.  “Sensei, you’re fired!”

“Kumiko-chan,” he said, taken aback.  He paused for a moment.  “I think you’re misunderstanding something.  True, at first I came back to repay your grandfather.  But I’m not being held here against my will.  It’s not like I haven’t had other job offers.  Your grandfather is a good and strong person and I respect him.  I like everyone in the kumi.  They are family to me now.”

Kumiko swallowed, though it hurt with her throat so tight.  “But…”

“I’m not lying,” he said firmly.  “I’m here because I want to be.”  He patted her on the head and left.

Kumiko bowed her head, trying not to sniffle as a couple of treacherous tears dripped down her cheeks.  The door next to her slid open to reveal Grandpa.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” he said, stepping out.  “But you were being rather loud.”

Kumiko quickly wiped her cheeks and sat down on the edge of the step into the courtyard, trying to look casual.

Grandpa moved to stand next to her.  “How long has Shinohara-sensei been here?”

“Five years,” Kumiko said.  She’d been thinking about that a lot this afternoon, so she was able to add, “and two months and twenty-five days.”

There was a pause.  “That’s… very precise.  And a long time.  Five years to repay a debt and he still won’t leave, even after you told him to go.  What a dutiful guy.”

“Grandpa…” Kumiko said, unsure of what he was trying to say.

“There’s nothing we can do now but let him do what he wants.  For now he’s with us.  Maybe it’s time to accept that at some point, we’re going to have to let him go back to the straight world.”  He moved to sit down next to her.  “Right, Kumiko?”

She tried to swallow again, but her throat was too tight.  Her eyes filled up quickly and tears ran down her cheeks.  “Yeah,” she finally managed to croak out.  “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those who have read the manga will know that “Tetsu the Accused Rapist” actually ran for a couple of chapters in volume 5 and normally that would warrant much more than the few lines I gave it here. However, I found the story to be a painfully blatant bit of padding, and a poorly constructed one at that. For one thing, the weather is all wrong (everyone has been dressed for spring for a couple of volumes at this point, so the snowfall, while pretty and romantic, is ridiculous), there are inconsistencies with previous chapters (Kumiko claiming she doesn’t drive when she drives all the time – it was actually a pretty significant plot point in the first chapter!), and the plotting is incredibly half-assed (the real rapist just wanders in to the police station to announce his crime? Really? REALLY?)
> 
> At any rate, while this is the first chunk of the main storyline I’ve skipped, it won’t be the last. This novel is very much Kumiko and Shin focused and as we get farther into the manga (and as the padding becomes ever more prevalent), there will be other sections skipped. Think of it as the Kumiko-and-Shin Abridged Version of the manga.)
> 
> If you really would like to see some of the skipped storylines turned into prose, I encourage you to give it a try yourself. If you finish the story and post it, send me the link and I’ll add it to the notes for the appropriate chapter.


	14. Hard Times for Sawada Shin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Massive thanks to CappuccettoRosso, who truly went above and beyond on this chapter.

After his crazy night out with Kyou, Shin decided that, for the sake of his long-term health and survival, it was time to get over this stupid crush he had on Yamaguchi.

The fiasco with the boxing club helped enormously with that goal.  First, Yamaguchi forced him on the team, which reminded him how annoying, overbearing, _high-handed_ … in short, how irritating she could be.  Then she brought a yakuza thug to be their trainer, which provided a continual reminder of the aspect of her that he found most uncomfortable.  _Then_ , said thug brought in a ton of obviously stolen gear for them to practice with, making them all accessories after the fact.

By the day of the boxing match, Shin thought he’d managed to get this crush business under control.  Yamaguchi may have been his _favorite_ teacher, but he didn’t really feel anything for her beyond that.

Except then she’d looked him in the eye, called him by his first name, gave him a task, and trusted him to get the job done.  In that moment she’d treated him as an _equal_.  No adult had ever done that before, not once, and in that moment he realized that the crush had never really gone away.  If anything, it had grown stronger while his attention had been turned elsewhere.

He told her he’d get the job done, and he did.  And when he turned to face her after, she had that small smile on her face, the one that said: _I knew you could do it.  I never had any doubts._

He’d nodded back, feeling like he could conquer the world.

Between the crush, the quest to squelch the crush, boxing practice, and the ongoing anxiety about what would happen if Shirokin shut down, Shin lost track of the worry that he used to apply to his home life.  When he found his father’s car idling outside his apartment building, it didn’t even occur to Shin to freak out.  Later, he’d think ruefully that Yamaguchi’s dependability had weakened him.  Before he met her, he viewed every adult with suspicion, even his family.  Back then, he was always on his guard. 

Now, however, he just bent down to look into the open window to see his dad sitting in the back seat.  “Dad?  What’s up?”

“Hello, Shin,” his father answered.  “Your mother asked me to bring you home for dinner.”

Shin thought about the packet of ramen that he’d been planning to eat for dinner, then thought about braised beef, homemade miso soup, and fresh pickles.  “Okay,” he said, getting into the car.

His dad looked a little surprised at how easily Shin gave in.  In retrospect, that’s when Shin should’ve started getting suspicious.  But Shin’s head was full of Yamaguchi, who seemed to be sad and distracted this week, and he forgot to worry about the unending machinations of his family.

His mom looked surprised to see Shin walk in the door, which was interesting.  With Dad’s personality being so strong, she’d always faded a bit into the background.  More than once, Shin wished she’d taken his side, but he’d long ago accepted that Mom was the perfect wife and would never go against her husband.  He’d understood when Dad picked him up that the invitation was really from his father, not from his mother.

Still, Dad wouldn’t bring him home without telling Mom.  Maybe she didn’t expect Shin to agree?

It wasn’t until he got to the dining room and saw three settings that all of the clues started to come together.  “Where’s Akira?” Shin asked warily.

“Sit down,” Dad said, taking his own seat at the western-style dining table.

Shin looked at his mother, who was standing nervously beside her chair.  “Mom?”

She looked at her husband, then slid into her seat.  “Why don’t we talk about it over dinner?”

Shin frowned, but the food did smell good.  No reason he couldn’t get more information while eating.

For the first few minutes, the only sound was that of chopsticks clicking against plates.  Shin was hungrier than he’d expected and made significant headway into his meal before he looked up to find both parents watching him.

Sitting back in his chair, he asked warily, “What?”

“Do you remember the agreement that we made when you first moved out?” Dad said.

The food suddenly felt like a lead ball in Shin’s gut.  “Yeah.  I’ve followed it.”

“I’ve been in contact with your school,” Dad said.  “You’ve been absent almost half of the school days in the last year.”

Shin swallowed.  “My grades are fine.”

“That is beside the point,” his dad said.  “School is for more than book learning.  You are also there to learn responsibility, punctuality, and social interaction.  These are skills you will need to have in your adult life.”

Shin looked over at his mother.  She was looking down at her plate, picking at her barely touched meal.  He turned back to Dad.  “Where is Akira?”

“This has nothing to do with your brother,” Dad said and Shin fought back a hysterical laugh.  Of course this had to do with his brother.  As long as his brother was the perfect son, his Dad hadn’t given a shit what Shin did.

“Is he failing?” Shin asked.  “Is that why you brought me here?”

“He left,” Mom said quietly.  “We’re not sure where he went.”

Those words, spoken in Mom’s soft voice, felt like a proclamation of doom.  Shin had always known that Akira’s success had been Shin’s shelter.  As long as the family had their wildly successful older son, all the younger son had to do was be discreet in his rebellion.

Two rebelling sons?  That was simply unacceptable.

Shin gritted his teeth.  “I want to stay at Shirokin.”

“That is, of course, your choice,” Dad said.  “As long as you can afford to pay your expenses.”

 _Shit_.  There was no way Shin could afford to live on his own; he couldn’t even get a job that would pay enough for his rent, not without his diploma.

Dad took Shin’s silence as an answer.  “Excellent.  I’ve found a suitable school for you.  Their requirements are obviously higher than your current school; they’ve agreed to give you two weeks to study for the entrance exam.  I will drop off your withdrawal paperwork on Monday before I go to work.”

Shin thought about protesting, but there was no point.  Not after this ambush.  No, the best thing he could do was wait until dark and get out of the house.  There was at least one adult left he could turn to.  Yamaguchi would know what to do.

~~~

Six hours later, two of Dad’s bodyguards hauled Shin back into his room and dumped him unceremoniously onto his bed.  Dad came in behind them, stepping aside to allow them to leave the room.

“Shin, as long as you are in this house, I expect you to obey my rules.”  He frowned slightly.  “I wouldn’t have thought I needed to make an explicit rule that you do not sneak out of the house at night, but it seems that I do.”

 _Ha_ , Shin thought.  There’d been twice as many guards as usual; Dad totally knew Shin would try to escape.

That thought gave him a moment of satisfaction, but it was quickly overwhelmed by despair.  The phone line in his room had been removed and while he’d considered buying one of those new cell phones, he’d decided at the time it wasn’t worth spending his limited allowance money, not when none of his friends could afford to have one.  He’d try to flag down someone for help, but the thick tree cover – designed to protect his family’s privacy – made it impossible for anyone to see the house from the street.  As long as Dad’s bodyguards patrolled the grounds, Shin had no way to reach out for help.

Of course, now that he was thinking more clearly, what would he be able to do even if he _did_ escape?  His first thought had been to run to Yamaguchi, but she was part of the yakuza.  Even if she wanted to help, there was no way she could go up against the chief of police.

That left… who?  Who would risk the wrath of one of the most powerful men in all of Shirokin?  Fujiyama, Iwamoto, the _principal_?  Ha!  Shin would have just as much luck going to Kuma.  At least at Kuma’s he’d be sure of getting a good meal to make up for his interrupted dinner.

God, Kuma.  Shin curled up on the bed.  It was one thing for Shin to miss a day or two of school, but for Shin to disappear entirely?  What would Kuma do?  He’d gotten so much better at school lately; what if all of that progress was lost?

Shin spent the rest of the night dwelling on Shirokin, on his friends, on Yamaguchi.  In the morning, the door to his room opened and Dad came in with a stack of books.  “These are for your exam preparation.  I expect you to do your best.”  He placed the books on Shin’s desk and left.

Shin stared at the pile for a moment, then flipped over and closed his eyes.  It may be a small gesture, but he wasn’t done with rebelling yet.

~~~

Two days later, even he was starting to get bored.  There was a big difference between sleeping the day away by the river or on the rooftop of the school than there was being stuck in his room with a twin bed and a locked door.  Three times a day, his mother came to drop off food and pick up the untouched dishes from the previous meal.  Once a day, his father would come in, look disapprovingly at the pile of untouched books, and then leave.

Other than that, the only entertainment Shin had was his nearly-new MPMan player that he’d had in his pocket when his Dad had picked him up.  He’d been uncertain of the purchase at the time; he didn’t listen to that much music.  Now he was grateful, because without the player, he’d be climbing the walls with boredom and hunger.

He had his music on low and was staring at the ceiling, contemplating life, when he heard the lock on his door click open.  Since dinner had come and gone thirty minutes ago, he turned to the door in confusion as it opened.

Yamaguchi stood on the other side.

Shin bolted upright.  “Yamaguchi!  What are you doing here?”

She slammed the door shut behind her.  “What the hell is going on here?  Are you being held against your will?  Why are there _guards_ outside your door?”

Shin hadn’t known about the door guards.  Apparently Dad was taking no chances.  “Calm down,” he said, because if her shouting got too loud someone would come and take her away.  “The guards are there because I tried to escape out of the window.”

Yamaguchi made a noise like a tea kettle going off.  “You _are_ being held hostage!  How is that legal?”

“I am a minor,” Shin pointed out.

Yamaguchi scowled.  “So?  You were a minor last week and your parents didn’t have you locked up.”

Shin sighed.  “Last week my brother was still in college.”

Yamaguchi frowned, this time in confusion.  She sat down next to him on the bed and commanded, “Explain.”

Shin sighed again, harder, but this was exactly why he wanted her here.  “I have a brother,” he started, and went on to tell the whole sorry story, from his irritatingly perfect brother, to Shin’s pathetic teenage rebellion, to the day his parents decided to give up on one son and to pin all of their hopes on the other.  “And then, a few days ago, he disappeared.”

Yamaguchi made a startled noise at that, as if she’d been so caught up in the story that she felt Akira’s disappearance as a visceral shock.  In the back of his mind, Shin thought: _no adult has ever listened to me like that before._

Out loud, he said, “He wasn’t kidnapped or anything.  He left a note, saying that he had dreams he wanted to pursue and that college wasn’t part of those dreams.”

“Oh.  Well, that’s not your fault.  It’s your brother’s life.”

“I know, and I don’t blame him or anything, but…” Shin hunched over a little bit.  “As long as my parents had a son to make them proud, they didn’t worry about me.  With him gone, my term’s up.  I have to change schools to something ‘respectable’.”

Yamaguchi stared at him.  “Well that’s pretty damn selfish of them.”

There was a knock on the door and a man’s voice called from the other side, “Your time is up.”

Yamaguchi frowned, but stood up.

Shin’s control broke.  He grabbed Yamaguchi by the arm and begged, “Yamaguchi, please!  You have to do something to get me out of here!”

She flushed and bowed her head slightly.  “I can’t!  I was always told by my grandfather not to go up against the cops!  Your father’s way too dangerous for me!”

Shin wanted to cry.  He knew she was right, he _knew it_ , but he couldn’t stop himself.  “Please!  I don’t want to quit Shirokin!”

Yamaguchi swallowed.  “Sawada…”

The door opened.  “Sensei!” a man said.  Must be one of the fucking door guards.

Yamaguchi removed Shin’s hand from her forearm.  Before she let it go, however, she squeezed his fingers gently.

Shin’s heart thudded hard in his chest and his breath caught in his throat as she turned and left.

~~~

There was a lot of noise that night, in two distinct chunks.  The first chunk was the longest and loudest and Shin could have sworn he heard Ucchi’s familiar yelp at one point.  That didn’t seem possible and after a while the noise died down.

The second chunk of noise would have been inaudible if he’d still been listening to his MPMan.  A few thuds, a crack like a tree branch breaking, a couple of grunts.  Shin’s eyes widened as the noises got closer and he was shaking with the effort of controlling his hope when a knocking noise came from outside his balcony door.  Closing his eyes briefly, he told himself not to expect a miracle, then he stood up and walked to the door.

Yamaguchi was on the other side, dangling off the side of his balcony. 

“Yamaguchi!” he breathed.  “What are you doing here?”

She grinned and looked up at him from the edge of the balcony.  “You know, I think our positions are reversed from the usual.”

He smiled, unwillingly.

“Come on,” she said.  “Let’s get you out of here.”

The balcony was only on the second floor of the house.  Yamaguchi dropped down without help.  When Shin dangled off the side, a male voice whispered for him to drop and strong hands steadied Shin when he hit the ground.

Shin turned and stared.  “Kyou-san!”

“Not now,” Kyou muttered softly.  “We gotta get out of here.”

The car was parked a block from his house and they all jumped in: Kyou behind the wheel and Shin and Yamaguchi in the back seat.  The doors were barely shut before the car pulled away from the curb.

“Holy shit,” Shin said, staring at Yamaguchi.  She had some dirt scuffed on her face, but otherwise looked completely unharmed from her attack on Dad’s guards.  Shin glanced at Kyou, who was equally unscathed.  “Holy _shit_.”

“Are you all right?” Yamaguchi asked, sounding legitimately worried.

“Am _I_ all right?” Shin repeated, feeling slightly hysterical.  “I’m fine!  Are _you_ all right?”

There was a quiet noise in the front seat and Shin glanced over again to see Kyou smiling slightly.

“I’m fine,” Yamaguchi said, rolling her eyes.  “You’d think the police chief would have stronger men than that.”

This time the noise from the front seat was definitely identifiable as a snicker.

Shin let out a long breath, some of the tension leaving his muscles.  “So what happens next?”

“Now I take you home—”

Shin’s heart skipped a beat.

“—and we wait for the fallout.”

“Oh,” Shin said, his brief moment of euphoria gone.  “What do you think is going to happen?”

Yamaguchi looked grim.  “We’ll find out.”  She looked over at Shin.  “But remember this: I am responsible for my actions, not you.  Whatever happens, it is because of my own choices.”

Shin managed a nod and then turned his head to look out the window, trying to cope with the uncomfortable realization that he might just have ruined Yamaguchi’s life.

~~~

Yamaguchi did not go to school the next day.  It made sense, seeing as they hadn’t gotten back to the Kuroda house until after three a.m., but Shin was still surprised.  Yamaguchi had never missed a day of school before, not even during that weird stretch where she kept running out the moment classes ended.

God.  That felt like a lifetime ago.

Instead, Shin found himself in the ima of the Kuroda house, sitting between Yamaguchi and Kyou, and facing Tetsu, Minoru, and some guy named Wakamatsu.  The other men stared at him for a few minutes and then, as if he had suddenly been erased from existence, proceeded to talk as if he wasn’t even in the room.

“What can we expect?” Wakamatsu asked.  “And when?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Yamaguchi answered.  “But it’ll probably happen sometime today.  My address is on file with the school.”

There was a pause.

“Should we call Shinohara-sensei?” Minoru asked quietly.

Everyone’s eyes turned to Yamaguchi, including Shin’s.  His eyes widened when he realized she was _blushing_.  “No,” she said, sounding flustered.  “He’s been working late on…” her eyes cut to Shin “… _that_ case.  We can’t bother him with this.”

 _What_ _case?_ Shin wanted to ask.  _And who the fuck is “Shinohara”?_

He didn’t get answers to either question, though the group stayed up for another hour, discussing strategy.  The one thing everyone agreed on was to keep this information from Yamaguchi’s grandfather, for the sake of plausible deniability.  Shin had to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out what a terrible idea silence was in this case.  Shin’s dad was a vengeful bastard, and there was no way Yamaguchi’s grandfather would not eventually find that out the hard way.

But it wasn’t his place to say anything, and if there was one lesson that Yamaguchi had given him that had actually sunk in, it was to stay out of yakuza business.  He didn’t know all of the circumstances.  Maybe there were reasons he wasn’t aware of for keeping her grandfather in the dark.

Dawn was just beginning to brighten the sky when they all went to bed.  This time Shin got an actual guest room for the night, rather than getting dumped in the ima.  It occurred to him that no one had said anything about his deplorable behavior the last time he’d been at the Kuroda house, drunk off his ass and being sick on the floor.

He never would have imagined that the yakuza could be so kind.

~~~

Father showed up early the next afternoon, a dozen policemen in tow.

“Stay here,” Yamaguchi said, pointing to a hallway that ran behind the public foyer.  It was surprisingly considerate of her; from this spot, right next to the rear entrance of the room, Shin would be able to hear everything that was said in the foyer.

Shin peeked around the corner to see Yamaguchi and her men positioning themselves for greatest effect – Shin rolled his eyes; at least she was consistent – before nodding to an underling he didn’t know to open the door.

Dad was on the other side, three guys – _not_ arranged for maximum visual impact, Shin noted before pulling his head back – behind him.  “So,” Dad said.  “We meet again, Sensei.”

Shin heard footsteps and then a creak from the sofa.  “I was surprised,” Dad’s voice said, sounding much closer to the hallway than the front door.  “I didn’t think that my son’s teacher would be a yakuza successor, especially not the successor of such a traditional kumi as the Kuroda family.”  He paused.  “Why _is_ the daughter of the yakuza working as a senior high school teacher?”

“You caught me by surprise, too,” Yamaguchi said.  “I didn’t think the police chief would go through all of this trouble just to drag his son back home.”

Shin could imagine his Dad gritting his teeth in the pause that followed.  “I know my son is here,” Dad eventually said, his voice tight with anger.  “And I know you’re hiding your background from your workplace.  I think it’s in your own best interests to give Shin back to me.”

“Fuck that!” Kyou’s voice said.  “ _I_ am responsible for—”

“Kyou-san!” Yamaguchi snapped.  Kyou’s voice cut off.  “It’s okay.  I knew what was going to happen the minute I decided to help.  But if he quits school now, I’d know that I failed a student to protect my own best interests.  That’s not a regret I can live with.  So, Sawada-san, if you feel that you have to tell everyone who I am, go right ahead.  I will not back down.”

“So I see,” Dad said, sounding a little startled.  His voice hardened.  “But I’ll make one thing clear.  It would be nothing for me to get rid of a kumi like this.  And when that happens, it will be your grandfather who will take the fall.”

“My grandfather has nothing to do with this!” Yamaguchi shouted.  “He might be a yakuza but he’s a greater man than you!”

“Excuse me?” Dad said sharply.

“You asked me why a yakuza successor is teaching, didn’t you?  Well, here’s why: unlike you bastards, my grandfather doesn’t push his life on his kids!”

There was a pause, broken only by Yamaguchi’s heavy breathing.  Shin could almost imagine the look on her face; she only breathed that way when she was utterly furious.

A tall man in traditional clothes suddenly appeared in front of Shin.  Shin started back; he’d been so caught up in the drama in the room that he hadn’t even noticed the man – Yamaguchi’s grandfather; Shin recognized him from the night with Kyou – coming up.

Grandfather looked down at Shin and frowned, before stepping into the doorway.  “So what did our little one do this time?”

Shin lifted his eyebrows at Yamaguchi getting called “little one”

“Everyone thinks I must be getting old,” Grandfather added.  “Because no one tells me a damn thing around here.”

Shin winced at that.

“But I will say this,” Grandfather said, his voice growing sharp, “I may not know the situation, but if she says you’ve gone too far, I’d say she must be right.”

There was a sniff from Yamaguchi.  “I’m sorry, Grandpa.”

“I guess you have her trust,” Dad said, sounding unimpressed.  Shin wanted to jump out and shout at him: _that is a good thing!  A child_ should _be able to trust his parents!_

“Sawada-san, wasn’t it?” Grandfather said.  “Kids may do dangerous things at times, but isn’t it a parent’s role to trust them and watch over them?”

“Excuse me?” Dad said, sounding startled.  Shin wanted to cheer.  In his entire life, he’d never heard even one person question Dad’s parenting.  When Yamaguchi did so yesterday, he’d figured it was because she was Yamaguchi.  She was special.

Now he was seeing she wasn’t alone.  Here was a whole group of men – dangerous, ugly men – who were putting their life and their freedom on the line to support her.  Who were standing up to his father for her and, by extension, Shin.

He was really going to have to rethink all of his beliefs about the yakuza.

Grandfather took a deep breath.  “This is what I have to say to you.  I, Kuroda Ryuuichirou, will not run and I will not hide!  Come and do what you gotta do!  Until then, _get the hell out of here!_ ”

“…I admire your force, Kuroda-san,” Dad said, and Shin could hear the barely-controlled fury in his voice.  “However, now that you’ve said your piece, I suggest you prepare yourself for the outcome.  I’ll be back with paperwork.”

No.  No way could Shin let his father destroy this family.  Regardless of their jobs or their connections, the Kuroda family had sheltered Shin in his time of need.  Yamaguchi, specifically, had put her life on the line for him, more than once.  Shin could not let them fall for him.

“Wait!” he shouted, coming through the back door.  With a quick sweep of his eyes, he took in the full room.  Good.  There were a lot of witnesses on the police side.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” Shin said, keeping his voice loud, noticing the way the policemen in the room stood up a little in shock.  Undoubtedly, Dad had gone around telling everyone that Shin had been kidnapped against his will.  “Isn’t it corruption to misuse your powers this way?  Aren’t _you_ the criminal when you attack these people for the _crime_ of protecting your son?”

Dad, who hadn’t turned back from the front door at any point in Shin’s rant, hissed, “Shin, you idiot!”

Shin noticed with satisfaction the way the other officers looked at each other in consternation at the insult.

“Are you planning on becoming a yakuza?” Dad added.

The tension in the room was high, but it would be so easy for it to slip away if it wasn’t put to good use.  Shin made a split-second decision and dropped to his knees dramatically.

The entire room gasped as one.

Shin swallowed down an inappropriate smile and shouted, “Please!”  With that word, all of his humor disappeared and he felt himself sink fully into the role of supplicant.  “Please let me graduate from Shirokin!”

“Shin…” Dad said and Shin looked up to see that at least his father was now looking at him.  “Why are you so obsessed with that school?  It’s full of losers.”

“I thought so as well,” Shin said, honestly.  “I wanted to go there to embarrass you after the way you covered up that incident back in junior high.”  He paused to take a shaky breath.  “The way you covered up _that teacher’s_ behavior.  The way you tried to force other schools to take me.

“But now… right now… what’s most important to me is to stay with my friends, my te—”  He cut himself off, appalled at what he almost revealed.  Glancing back, he saw Yamaguchi staring at him in confusion.  God, she was so thick.  He didn’t know why he lo—liked her so much.

He turned his attention back to the floor.  “My teachers aren’t so bad either,” he finished lamely.  “So, please, I’m begging you.  Let me stay at Shirokin.”

Dad sighed.  “This is nothing but ridiculous emotions, Shin.”

Shin bit his lip, casting about for another strategy.  “When I was younger,” he said hesitantly.  “I was really envious of Akira.  All I wanted to do was please you, like he did.  So I did everything I could to get on your good side, but it was never…”  He stopped himself; finishing that sentence would only turn his dad against him.  “I want to decide things for myself, now,” Shin said instead, his voice quiet.  “I think it’s time.”

There was a long pause.  “Shin,” his dad sighed.  “You stupid fool.”

He turned and walked out, leaving an echoing silence behind.

Shin pushed himself to his feet.  He’d done what he could with his dad for his own future; all he could do now was try and protect Yamaguchi’s family.  He bowed to Kuroda.  “I’m very sorry for the trouble, Kuroda-san.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kuroda said quietly.

Shin glanced at Yamaguchi, but his throat was too tight to say anything to her, so he turned and left.

Behind him, he heard her shout, “Hey!  Sawada!” followed by some quiet words in Kuroda’s gruff, kind voice.

She didn’t try to follow.

~~~

Shin hadn’t been sure of what to expect when he reached the street, but his dad’s car was still there, waiting for him.  Without hesitation, he opened the door and slid into the back seat next to his father.

They were halfway home before his dad said, “I’ll speak with your mother.”

Shin turned his head away to hide his smile.


	15. The New Kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta CappuccettoRosso, who wisely recommended that Chapters 14-16 should be the three chapters they currently are, rather than the one ridiculously overly long monstrosity of a chapter that they had been originally.

It took the rest of the week to undo all of the damage his father had done.  Shin’s apartment had been given up and had already been rented to someone else.  There was a brief debate about Shin living at home and going to Shirokin, but it was generally agreed that that was a terrible idea, and so they found a place that was farther from home but closer to school and Dad increased Shin’s allowance to accommodate the increased cost.

Getting back into Shirokin was easier than expected; apparently the principal hadn’t found time to file the paperwork yet.  Shin suspected Yamaguchi had something to do with that.

Shin’s first day back at school was a Monday; after all of that fuss, he’d only missed a single week of school.  From his friends’ reactions, however, one would think he’d been gone for a year.  Their greeting was so enthusiastic that it nearly knocked him to the ground.  Part of that turned out to be the principal, who had grabbed him in a bear hug from behind, which was creepy and inappropriate …so, totally in line with the principal’s character.

Of course, everyone wanted to know what happened and it was Kuma, oddly enough, who guessed the closest: “Was it Yankumi?  Did she come to your house or something?”

“No,” Shin said after a moment.  He didn’t particularly want to lie about this, but he really couldn’t think of any way to spin the truth without revealing too much about Yamaguchi’s background.  “No, I just talked it through with my dad.  Eventually he agreed.”  Off everyone’s expression, he added, “I can be persuasive.”

“Uh…” Minami said.

“What do you mean ‘persuasive’?  There was no _persuading_ that guy,” Noda added.  To be fair, he still had a bruise on his cheek; Yamaguchi had told Shin that the guys had tried to come and rescue him.  It was rather touching, even if they had failed miserably.

“Anyway,” Shin said.  “It looks like I caused a lot of trouble for everyone.  I’m sorry.”

As expected, they all protested vigorously and the subject was dropped.

It might have eventually come up again if they hadn’t gotten to the classroom to find a strange boy standing in the front of the room with Yamaguchi.  The boy was bleached blond, but that was the only thing about him that fit in with the other Shirokin students.  He was slender, his features were delicate, and his hunched shoulders and downcast face made him look smaller than he really was.

The class was, as a whole, entirely unimpressed.  Yamaguchi did her best by introducing him as Inuzuka and asking everyone to be nice.  Admittedly, her best was useless in this instance, but she did try.

Verbal bullying of the new kid started almost immediately.  Yamaguchi slapped it down in her classroom, but that just meant it started up again in the hallways and outdoors.

Shin shook his head at it all and wondered how this kid had ended up in Shirokin in the first place.  Whatever the reasons, he was going to have to harden up fast or he wasn’t going to make it.

Anyway, Shin had as many people to worry about as he could handle, so he put the new kid out of his mind and headed up to the roof during the lunch break.  He was surprised to find Yamaguchi already there, climbing up the terrifying ladder that led to the roof of the stairwell.  “Hey!” he said.  “What’re you doing breaking the rules?”

“I don’t think there’s an actual rule against coming up here,” she called back as she climbed over the roof edge.  “It’s just dangerous.”

Shin gave her the point.  He certainly wasn’t going to be making the attempt.

“Anyway,” Yamaguchi said as her feet appeared over the side of the roof.  From the angle, it looked like she was lying on her back with her feet dangling over the side.  “What happened with you and your father?”

Shin sighed and dropped down to sit with his back resting against the side of the stairwell.  “I think he just gave up for now.  He hasn’t said anything since he reinstated my allowance.”

Yamaguchi chuckled.  “I guess you two are related after all.”

Shin shot an exasperated look at her feet.

“Anyway,” Yamaguchi said, jumping off the stairwell roof like it was nothing—

Shin swallowed hard and reminded himself that the only damage he’d ever seen her take was the damage she allowed to happen.

—“Have you considered living at home for a while?  They probably miss you.”

Shin considered that.  It was hard to imagine his dad missing him.  Shin got the distinct impression that Dad viewed both of his sons exclusively through the lens of how they could advance his career or his reputation.  “Maybe,” he said noncommittally.

Yamaguchi went to lean on the railing.  “But ma—”  Her voice cut off and she leaned over the railing.  “Those idiots!”

She sprinted for the door.

“What the hell?” Shin said, jumping to his feet and following.

In the yard, they found two boys threatening to beat up Inuzuka.  Yamaguchi shouted at them to stop and, after some threatening backtalk, they left.  Yamaguchi stared after them, but Shin’s attention was caught by Inuzuka.

“Uh… Yamaguchi?  I think there’s something wrong with him.”

Yamaguchi turned away from the retreating third years.  “Inuzuka?  You okay?”

Inuzuka looked up.  His hair was standing on end, veins were sticking out on his forehead, his lips were curled up and it almost looked like there was stubble on his face.  It was like he’d put on a mask.

“Huh,” Yamaguchi said.  “He looks a little different, doesn’t he?  Something about his eyes?”

Shin stared at her.  “He looks like a completely different person!”

Inuzuka jumped to his feet and ran away.  Shin watched him go.  There was something really weird going on with that kid and Shin had a premonition that that weirdness was somehow going to come back and bite them all in the ass.

~~~

The next day, Shin learned exactly who the new kid was.

It started when Inuzuka came up to him as Shin was settling in for a nice long lunchtime nap on his desk.  “Are you Sawada Shin?”

Shin sighed into the wood of the desktop and opted not to answer.

“I was surprised when I heard other people talking about you,” Inuzuka continued, sitting down in the desk in front of Shin.  “I hear you’re in charge of the second years.”

Shin lifted his head with another sigh.  “What’re you talking about?”

Inuzuka looked him up and down.  “You really can’t judge a person by their looks, can you?”

Shin rolled his eyes.  “Fuck off.”

Not only did Inuzuka not leave, he didn’t even look nervous.  “Starting from today,” he said.  “You work for me.”

Shin stared at him for a moment.  He seemed perfectly serious.  “Whatever,” Shin said, getting to his feet.

“Hey!” Inuzuka said, sounding surprised.  “Stop!”

Shin kept on walking.

Out in the hallway, Minami flagged him down to give him the news that Inuzuka was the heir to the Inubou yakuza group.  Inuzuka stepped out of the classroom behind Shin and said, “I told you people can’t be judged by their looks.”  He lowered his voice.  “I think it might be best if you do as I say.”

Shin snorted.  “You’re nothing special.  Apparently yakuza heirs are thick on the ground.”  _You’re not even the scariest one at this school,_ he added to himself.

“Uh, no, they’re pretty rare,” Ucchi said.

“Anyway,” Shin said.  “I don’t want to be anyone’s boss and I _definitely_ don’t want to be anyone’s bitch.  So fuck off.”

He walked away again, and this time he could hear his fellow classmates telling off Inuzuka and following.

Their courage lasted until they got off school grounds, at which point Ucchi said, “You know, now that I think about it, that was dangerous.  You heard what happened to Hamada from third year.”

Shin’s attention sharpened.  Hamada from third year had been one of the boys bullying Inuzuka the day before.  “What happened?”

“He got beaten up by yakuza last night.  Hamada’s in the hospital.”

“Guess you shouldn’t have slapped your ass at him, then,” Minami said to Ucchi.

“I’m not scared of him!” Ucchi said, utterly unconvincingly.  “Anyway, all we got to do is name-drop Shin’s dad and we’ll—”

His voice cut off as Shin grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close.  “My dad has _nothing_ to do with this!  If I used his name to get out of trouble, I’d be just as bad as Inuzuka!  Don’t even _think_ of telling anyone who he is!”

“Okay, okay,” Ucchi said quickly, holding his hands up.  “I won’t say anything.”

Shin let him go and stalked off, furiously angry, though if pushed he wasn’t sure he could have said exactly why.  He heard the guys running to catch up after him.

~~~

They were attacked near the bridge.

Afterwards, when Shin thought back on the fight, he decided that the Shirokin students hadn’t embarrassed themselves.  They’d fought back with courage and in some cases with skill, and they hadn’t run away.

That said, the fight was over before it even started.  These men weren’t middle school punks or even Nekomata yakuza wanna-bes.  These were trained men, who assaulted people for a living.  These were the type of men Shin had always thought of when he’d thought of yakuza.

They attacked without warning and without mercy and painfully soon all five of the students were lying broken on the ground, bleeding and in some cases, unconscious.

As Shin looked over his damaged friends, he remembered everything he’d learned from his father about the yakuza.  No matter how much he liked Yamaguchi, no matter how much he owed to her grandfather, _this_ was the truth of the yakuza.

Blood, violence, and fear.

~~~

Shin woke up in the hospital.  “Goddamn it,” he muttered.  He’d just finished paying off the _last_ hospital bill.

“Sawada, thank God.”

Shin looked over to see Yamaguchi sitting on a chair next to his bed, looking relieved.  “Yamaguchi?  What are you doing here?”

“Checking in on you.  You’ve been unconscious for several hours.”

Shin stared at her.  “ _What?_ ”  Shit, that was scary.  He didn’t think he’d been that hurt in the fight.

“Well, the doctor said it might have something to do with the fact that you’re _malnourished_ and _dehydrated_.”  Her voice raised dramatically on those last words.

Shin winced.  “I, uh, may have been refusing food at my parents’ house.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I was protesting!” Shin protested.  “And then after… I sometimes forget to eat when I’m stressed.”

Yamaguchi rolled her eyes.  “At any rate, they’re not sure if you were actually unconscious this whole time or just asleep, but your vitals were okay so they decided to wait.  I took responsibility for you so they wouldn’t call your father.  And since you recently had a _skull fracture_ —”

Shin winced, mentally cursing the hospital employee who let that slip.  There was a reason why he hadn’t mentioned it to Yamaguchi.

“—you are going to stay in this bed until you are fully recovered.  Or until they kick you out, which might be as early as tomorrow.  We’ll see.”

“What about the others?”

“Cuts and bruises, mostly.  Minami has a strained shoulder.  Nothing major.”

Shin sank back into his bed in relief.  “And what about Inuzuka?”

“I’ll be dealing with him tomorrow.  In the meantime, I need you to do something for me.”

Shin raised his eyebrows at her to hide the rush of happiness he felt at the request.  She was treating him as an equal again.  “Yeah?”

“The Inubou group has agreed to pay all of your medical bills.”

“Really?” Shin said.  “That’s… a relief, actually.”

Yamaguchi smiled.  “I thought so, especially for Kuma.”

She had a point.

“At any rate, I don’t want a lot of questions about my involvement.  If you break the news to them tonight, then it won’t be a surprise when I officially break the news to the guys tomorrow.”

“I can do that.”

She smiled at him and nodded, not a hint of doubt on her face.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Shin said, and he watched her leave, his heart pounding furiously in his chest.

Shortly after, a nurse came in and checked his vitals.  “You seem to be doing well.  There are some boys on the floor who want to visit.  Is that okay?”

“Sure,” Shin said.  Might as well get started on his assignment.

Sure enough, it was his friends who wandered in.  “Did you see that nurse?” Minami asked as soon as he stepped into the room.  “She’s hot!”

Shin thought back to the nurse in question.  She had been attractive, he guessed.  “Sure,” he said, to keep anyone from getting suspicious.  “Listen, though, she told me something important.  Apparently the Inubou are paying our hospital bills.”

“What?” Noda asked.  “Why?”

Shin shrugged.  “I guess they found out what Inuzuka was up to and wanted to make amends.”

“Huh,” Noda said.  “I’d heard the yakuza have a strict code of honor.”

“Me, too,” Kuma said.

“Hey,” Minami said.  “You think that nurse would give me her number?”

Shin rolled his eyes and leaned back against his pillows, letting Ucchi and Noda take the lead on the obligatory teasing of Minami.

~~~

The next day, the boys somehow ended up back in Shin’s room.  They seemed to be recovering well, at least until Yamaguchi showed up and started smacking heads because the guys were hassling the new, less pretty, day nurse.  Shin ducked his head and smiled.

As soon as the boys stopped whining over their new injuries, they noticed that Yamaguchi had brought a guest.  “Who’s that?” Noda asked, which was fair.  Inuzuka really did look different with his scary face on.

Once everyone got over Inuzuka’s crazy transformation, and after Yamaguchi told a highly edited and scarcely credible story about being approached by Inuzuka’s father to make amends for his son, she said, “So it’s been decided that his punishment is up to you.”

“What, really?” Minami asked.

“Yep.  If you want to go to the principal and get him expelled, or send him to the police, we can do that.  Or, if you want, you can teach him how to fix his personality.”

“What does that mean?” Ucchi asked.

“Wait, we get to teach him?” Noda asked.  He grinned meanly.  “I think that’s a great idea.”

Inuzuka squeaked.

Minami smiled as well.  “Oh, yeah, we’ll fix you up good.”

Inuzuka’s face, which had reverted to his normal expression during Yamaguchi’s story, went back to its scary form.  All the boys laughed, except for Shin.

“So I guess you guys want to fix him,” Yamaguchi said, smiling.

“You want us to fix him,” Shin said.

She just shrugged, still smiling.

The boys watched Inuzuka until his face went back to normal, then leaned in with threats.

“Hey!” Shin said, rolling his eyes.  “Stop playing with him.”

Inuzuka’s face went back to normal.  Shin stared at him for a moment, remembering the time Inuzuka tried to make Shin his bitch.  He turned to Yamaguchi.  “You know, Yamaguchi, he’s really strange.  We may not be able to change him—” he turned an evil smile on Inuzuka “—without some harsh medicine.”  And there went the scary face.  It really was quite fascinating.

“Sawada,” Yamaguchi said flatly.  “You stop playing with him, too.”

Shin smiled, and let it go.  He had a feeling he’d be seeing plenty of that scary face in the future.

~~~

The last few weeks of the school year before the summer trip passed peacefully.  After a few days of retribution and entertainment in the form of scaring him into showing his scary face, Inuzuka was absorbed by the class in much the same way as Tsuruta had been.  Admittedly, Inuzuka was nowhere near as strong or scary as Tsuruta, so he still got teased in the name of “fixing his personality”, but the teasing was relatively mild and Inuzuka seemed to be okay with it.

There was one unfortunate episode where Minoru fell for Noda’s sister, and Shin found himself amazed all over again that in a city of millions, Shirokin High and the Kuroda yakuza family would keep running into each other.  For the most part, Shin stayed out of that mess, though he noticed Yamaguchi getting more and more upset as the romance got underway.  At one point, he wandered up to the roof and found her there, staring over the city with a despondent expression.

“What’s up?” he asked, shifting to stand next to her, leaning back against the railing and doing his best to look casual.

“Minoru’s gone,” she said, sniffing and hastily wiping her eyes.  “He’s gone to be a fishmonger.”

Shin tried to come up with a response to that.  “Um… why?”

“Because Noda’s family shouldn’t be torn apart.”

“Ah.”  Noda had been talking about his sister.  Apparently her father had disowned her when he found out she was dating a member of the yakuza.  “So that’s why you’ve been so upset lately.”

“I’m not upset!” Yamaguchi snapped, looking at him with damp, reddened eyes.  “How am I upset?”

Shin stared at her incredulously.  “…sure.  You’re not upset.”

“Right.”  She went back to looking over the city.

Shin slid down the wall to sit next to her, content enough to provide silent company.

A few minutes later, the door to the roof burst open.  “Here he is,” Minami said.

A gaggle of boys stepped out and came up to Shin.  “Hey, we’re thinking of skipping class this afternoon,” Minami said.

“Want to go bowling?” Noda asked.

“Guys,” Yamaguchi said.  “I’m right here!”

They utterly ignored her.  She sighed.  “Noda.”

Noda turned to her and Shin’s attention locked onto their conversation, though he stood up and kept his head facing the rest of the guys.

“Whatever happened after your father and your sister fought?”

“Oh, that.  Don’t worry, it worked itself out.”

“Really?” Yamaguchi said, her voice a complex mix of relief and grief.

“Yeah,” Noda said.  “My sister broke up with him yesterday.”

Shin’s head snapped around to look at Noda, even as Yamaguchi yelped, “ _What?_ ”

“Yeah, it turns out my sister was planning on being a yakuza’s wife.  She dreamed of living a dangerous and beautiful life, but then the guy left the yakuza and started a new job as a fishmonger.”

The rest of the group was listening in now, too.  “So they broke up?” Minami asked.  “Wow.”

“Your sister is messed up,” Ucchi added.

“ _What?_ ” Yamaguchi said again, grabbing Noda’s shirt by the collar.  “What do you mean they broke up?” she shouted, shaking him.

Shin watched in amusement as it took three boys to drag Yamaguchi off of Noda.  Then she ordered them to class, stalking them down the steps the whole way.

She looked a million times more happy than she did before.

Feeling absurdly fond over the whole incident, Shin followed.

~~~

The school trip for the second years was Okinawa and as the day for the trip grew closer, 2-4 started getting really interested in the details.  Shin, who had heard a lot about the notorious Hokkaido trip the previous year, kept his expectations low. 

When the schedule for the trip was released, everyone pitched a fit.  “We only have one free day?” Minami shouted.  “And our curfew is six?  What the fuck?”

“Are they shitting us?” Noda asked.  “Even elementary schools are less strict than that.”

“Last year we went to Hokkaido,” Tsuruta said wistfully.  “And a group of us went to the red light district.”  His voice trailed off and his face flushed.

“Well?” Minami shouted.  “What happened next?”

Tsuruta looked over and the flush deepened until his cheeks were red.  He shifted a hand down to cover his lap.

“ _Holy shit!_ ” Kuma said.

“What are you remembering?” Ucchi asked urgently.

“How’d you sneak out?” Noda asked, even more urgently.

Shin tuned them out.  Yamaguchi hadn’t been on the trip last year; anyone trying to sneak out this year would require new strategies.

The door of the classroom opened and Yamaguchi stepped in singing about islands.  Of course, she was off-key and hummed through half of the words, so the class tried to shout her down.  Shin was just happy that someone was looking forward to this trip.  He’d been to Okinawa before with his family, and while he’d enjoyed it then, he suspected that this trip would mostly involve a lot of irritation as the teachers tried to keep the students out of trouble.

~~~

Shin would give the trip this much: the flight went well.

After that, though, things got pretty shitty.

It started with the endless bus ride.  The students were supposed to see some of the highlights of Okinawa, but at every stop a teacher would run out, look around, and then run back to the bus.  Presumably they were reporting potential problems, because invariably the bus would continue on, bypassing the excursion.

By the time they got to the hotel, Shin had a blinding headache from all of the shouting and fighting amongst the students.  He took some comfort from the fact that Yamaguchi looked equally irritated as she climbed off the bus.  Any generosity he’d had toward the teachers had died out three aborted stops before, and he was pissed off enough to include Yamaguchi in that number.

He felt better after a tasty dinner and a couple of hours relaxing in his room.  His headache had even receded enough that he was looking forward to the challenge of sneaking out that night.  When Noda came in to announce that the teachers were guarding the hotel entrance, Shin just smiled and said, “Don’t worry.”

“But, Shin,” Ucchi said.  “Tomorrow we move to a new hotel in the countryside.  Today’s the only day we can have fun.”

“Don’t worry,” Shin said again.  “The night’s still young.”

Kuma, who had been in charge of watching the teachers’ rooms, burst in.  “Shin-chan!  Yankumi just went back to her room.”

“Great,” Shin said, standing up and stretching.  “Time to go.”

“Wait, what?” Minami said.

“There are still teachers outside,” Noda pointed out.

“Yamaguchi was the only serious threat.  With her gone, there are plenty of ways to sneak out.”  Shin thought for a moment.  “Does anyone know which room Inuzuka is in?”

Shin’s plan worked like a charm: Inuzuka went sprinting past the vice principal, who naturally followed, leaving the front door completely unguarded.  Shin pulled on his jacket and sauntered out, his friends close behind.

The first hour was actually a lot of fun.  They found some beer vending machines and stocked up before wandering around Okinawa.  By popular demand, they headed to the red light district first.  No one was quite gutsy enough to spend money there, however, and soon they left in the direction of Matsuyama, where they bought some food from street vendors and snacked as they walked down the street seeing the sights.  Shin watched the people around him and joked with his friends and realized that he felt freer than he had in a really long time.

A wave of gratitude washed over him as he remembered how close he had come to missing out on this trip.  He was so glad that he’d been able to stay at Shirokin.

Unfortunately, things turned a bit sour after that.  With several beers giving them courage, Ucchi and Noda started hassling some of the local girls.  Shin, with Kuma’s help, pulled them away, but Minami kept egging the two assholes on and Kuma got distracted by a food stall and it didn’t take long for Shin to lose control of the situation.  Finally, Ucchi and Noda hit on the wrong two girls, attracting the attention of a local gang.  Shin shouted for them to scatter and ran back to the hotel.

Four boys made it back.  Ucchi was nowhere to be found.

“Shit,” Noda breathed after they’d waited for half an hour.  “Do you think something happened to him?”

“He’s probably fine,” Kuma said.  “Right, Shin-chan?”

Shin was feeling less than confident.  “Did anyone see where he went?”

A lot of shaking heads.

“Shit,” Shin murmured.  “Okay.  We give him another half an hour.”

“And then what?” Minami asked.

Shin sighed.  “And then we go to Yamaguchi.”

Half an hour passed.  No sign of Ucchi.

At Yamaguchi’s door, everyone turned to Shin.  “What?” he asked.  They stared at him.  “I’m not going in there.”

“Well, _I’m_ not,” Noda said.  “She’s scary.”

“I don’t want her to hit me,” Minami said, the late hour and remnants of beer apparently making him honest.

Kuma simply stepped back until he was pressed against the opposite wall from Yamaguchi’s door.

Shin cursed under his breath and tested the door.  The hotel hadn’t upgraded to the fancy new swipe cards and there was a chance that the teachers had left their doors unlocked in case of emergencies.  It was a long shot, but…

The handle turned.  The door opened.

Shin’s heart felt like it was going to pound right out of his chest.

He snuck into the room on tiptoe.  There was just enough light filtering through the curtains for him to make out the two beds.  Fujiyama’s light brown hair was obvious, so he turned to the other bed.  His breath froze in his throat.

Part of his brain noticed that Yamaguchi slept on her back.  The more rational part noted that this would make waking her quietly a bit easier.

The rest of his brain was freaking the fuck out.

He forced himself to take a silent breath and tiptoed to Yamaguchi’s bed.  Easing down on the edge of the bed, he leaned down to whisper, “Yamaguchi.”

Her eyes cracked open, mere inches from his own.  Suddenly they opened wide and she opened her mouth to shout.

Panicking, Shin put his hand over her mouth.  “Shh!” he hissed.  “Don’t make any noise.”

A hand like iron grabbed his wrist and jerked and suddenly he was on his back, Yamaguchi kneeling over him.  “You bastard!” she shouted.

“No!” he whispered frantically, trying to keep his voice down.  “Calm down!”

“You idiot!” she shrieked.  “How dare you!”

“It’s not what you’re thinking!” he hissed back.  “Yamaguchi!”

“How dare you attack your beloved teacher like this?”

“No one’s attacking anyone!” he shouted back, goaded past the point of patience.  “And what’s with this “beloved” bullshit?”

“Why’s your bed squeaking?” Fujiyama’s voice said.

Shin and Yamaguchi froze and turned to see Fujiyama sitting bolt upright in her bed, looking shocked.

“Oh,” she said.

“Fujiyama-sensei!” Yamaguchi said quickly.  “It’s not what it looks like!”

“No, no!” Fujiyama said, smirking.  “It’s okay!  You two should continue!  I’m not called Love’s Chesty Champion for nothing.”

Shin let his head drop back on Yamaguchi’s pillow.  Yamaguchi said, “…um.  Okay, but really…”

Fujiyama ignored her.  “I’ll go outside for a while.  Sawada, how much time do you need?  An hour?  Two hours?”

“What the hell…”

“Three hours!  Amazing!”

“Oh, for… look at the door!”

The two women glanced at the door, where Kuma, Minami, and Noda stood, looking horrified.  “Uh… hi,” Noda said.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi said, shifting off of Shin.

Shin immediately rolled off the bed and headed for the furthest wall.  He needed some space.  And maybe some deeper shadows, because he didn’t want anyone getting a good look at the tightness of his trousers at the moment.

“Okay,” Yamaguchi said, sitting up in bed.  “Someone tell me what’s going on.”

Everyone looked at Shin, who put up his hands.  He was done with this bullshit.

Noda sighed and said, “So, here’s the thing.  Ucchi is missing.”

Yamaguchi’s shoulders relaxed.  “He’s probably just sleeping in someone else’s room.  It’s not a big deal.”

“No,” Minami said.  “It’s not like that.”  He sent a desperate look at Shin.  Shin was working on getting himself under control and shook his head.  Minami dropped his head and muttered, “We snuck out.”

“ _WHAT?_ ” Yamaguchi shouted.  Even Fujiyama jumped.  “What do you mean you snuck out?”  Her hands curled into fists.  “Damn it, what the hell were you guys thinking?”

Damn it, now Shin had to step in. “Yamaguchi, there will be plenty of time to yell at us later.  Right now we have to go find Ucchi.”

“Right,” she said, calming down again.

Shin nodded pointedly at Noda, who grumbled, but told the story of what had happened, glossing over who exactly was hitting on the girls.  He finished with, “After we scattered, we found our own way back to the hotel.  Except that Ucchi hasn’t come back yet.”

“How long have you guys been back?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Over an hour,” Kuma said ruefully.

Yamaguchi rubbed a hand over her face.  “What about his phone?  He just got a cell phone, right?”

Hah.  _Everyone_ knew that Ucchi had gotten a cell phone – he’d been bragging about it for two full weeks before the trip.

“I’ve been calling him for the last half hour,” Noda said.  “He’s not picking up.”

“Shit,” Yamaguchi said.  “No way he would’ve lost that phone.”

Everyone agreed, even Fujiyama, who had returned to her bed and looked to be half-asleep already.

“All right,” Yamaguchi said.  “You three—” she pointed to Kuma, Minami, and Noda “—will wait here in case Ucchi shows up.  Noda, keep calling him, just in case.  Sawada, you’re with me.”

Shin got that warm feeling in his chest and had to fight it back before the warm feeling moved elsewhere in his body.

“Now all of you get the hell out of my room so I can get dressed,” she finished with a snarl.

They got out.  Shin leaned back against the wall opposite Yamaguchi’s door and waited while the rest of the boys went back to the room Shin and Kuma were sharing.  Noda came back a couple of minutes later.  “Here’s my digital camera,” he said, handing it over.  “There’s some video on it from the airport.  It’s the only image I have of Ucchi.”

“Thanks,” Shin said, taking the camera.  He was surprised and impressed that Noda thought of it.

Noda hesitated for a moment.  “You’ll find him, right?”

“We will,” Shin said.  To himself, he admitted that most of his confidence came from the fact that Yamaguchi was now involved.

Noda hesitated again, then left without saying anything.

Yamaguchi stepped out of her room a minute later, dressed for going out.  She didn’t even look at Shin as she headed for the elevator.  Shin winced and followed.

In the elevator, Yamaguchi – still not looking at Shin – said, “The other teachers will just slow us down.  How’d you sneak out the first time?”

“Used Inuzuka as a decoy.”

She sighed.  “Goddamn vice principal.  All right.  He’s still on shift for the next half hour; I’ll draw him away so you can get out.  It’ll be a narrow window; you’ll need to run and you’ll need to do it silently.”

“No problem.”

Yamaguchi nodded, looking a little less tense.  She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something else, but at that moment the elevator doors opened and she closed her mouth with a sigh.

Pointing to an alcove that was mostly hidden from the lobby, she said, “Hide there.  Get ready.”

Shin nodded and got into position.  He watched from behind a large fern as Yamaguchi went to talk to the vice principal.  It only took a minute before they were walking away and Shin launched himself across the deserted lobby.

Outside, he jogged a couple of buildings down and waited.  Yamaguchi joined him five minutes later.  “Which way?” she asked.  Shin pointed and they started running.

After a block or so and running with surprising speed, Yamaguchi heaved a deep sigh.  “Honestly, Sawada, you were with the boys.  How did this happen?  You have to take responsibility!”

Shin, grateful for the self-imposed fitness regimen he’d been following for the last few months, had enough breath left to say indignantly, “Why would—”

He stopped himself, thinking back to earlier in the night.  He _had_ taken responsibility for the guys, hadn’t he?  He’d limited the amount of beer that they’d bought, he’d subtly steered them away from spending money on prostitutes, he’d tried to distract them from the girls.  Maybe he hadn’t been doing it _consciously_ , but he’d been changing their behavior.

Besides, Yamaguchi wasn’t criticizing him as a teacher does a student.  She was asking a question of him the way one adult might to another.  She was treating him as an equal again and he didn’t want to protest that he wasn’t responsible enough to deserve that treatment.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said.

Yamaguchi nodded sharply and that was that.

They ran until they reached the major downtown intersection.  “Now where?” Yamaguchi asked.

“We ran into the gang over there.” Shin pointed.  “And we split up over there.  I remember Ucchi…”  His voice trailed off as he saw a guy wearing a hideous floral shirt. 

“Sawada?” Yamaguchi asked warily.

“It’s them!” Shin shouted, taking off down the street, trusting Yamaguchi to follow.

He grabbed the first guy he saw, yanking him up by the collar of his red jacket and shouting, “Where is my friend?”

The guy in the floral shirt shouted, “Who the fuck are you?”

“I think he’s one of the guys from earlier,” Red Jacket said.

“Where is Ucchi?” yelled Shin.

Suddenly Yamaguchi was there, pulling Shin off of Red Jacket.  “All right, calm down.  If you want to ask for help, you have to ask nicely.”

Floral Shirt sneered at her.  “Who’re you?”

“I’m their homeroom teacher,” Yamaguchi said calmly.  “There was a boy with him earlier, with really curly hair.  Do you know where he went?”

Floral Shirt laughed.  “That kid?  He’s already dead.”

Yamaguchi’s calm evaporated.  “I’d be careful if I were you.  I don’t like those kinds of jokes.”

Floral Shirt grabbed Yamaguchi’s shirt and yanked her close.  “We killed that kid and threw him into the ocean.”

Shin took one look at Yamaguchi’s face and stepped out of the line of fire.

Yamaguchi slapped Floral Shirt hard enough to knock him off his feet.

“What was that about asking nicely?” Shin said.

“Shut up,” Yamaguchi growled.  “It’s his fault for joking around like that.”

“You bitch,” Floral Shirt said, getting to his feet.  “I’ll kill you, too!”

The group started toward Yamaguchi.  Shin thought about stepping in, but there were only four of them and, honestly, he was a bit worried he might get caught in the crossfire.

Five minutes later, all four men were on the ground sobbing.

“Kidding!” Floral Shirt cried.  “We were kidding!  We chased that kid, but he got away from us!”

“Huh,” Yamaguchi said, looking at Shin.  “Maybe they really don’t know.”

“They definitely don’t know,” Shin said dryly.

“Damn,” Yamaguchi said, turning away from the broken men she left behind.  “Where is he?”

“We’re going to have to ask around.”  Shin started walking and Yamaguchi kept pace.

“I wish we had a picture of him,” she said.

“Noda gave me his camera.  He said there’s a video clip with Ucchi in it.”

“Nice!” Yamaguchi said.  She gave him a thumbs up.  “You’re really smart.”

Shin hated that such a simple compliment made him feel happy.  “It’s not a big deal.  Most people would think of something like this.”

“Here, let me have the camera,” Yamaguchi said.  “I’ll find the clip.”

Shin was a bit dubious about her skill with technology – the kumi was _really_ traditional, after all – but she seemed to know what she was doing as she went through the menus.  “Do you have one of those?” he asked suspiciously.  Admittedly, her family obviously had plenty of money that could be spent on technology, but it just seemed so out of character.

“I don’t, but Tetsu does.”

Shin stared at her.

She rolled her eyes back.  “Hey!  Don’t judge a book by its cover.  Tetsu likes technology.  He’s always showing us new gadgets.”

“Right,” Shin said dubiously.  “Did you find the file?”

“Yep.  Come on.  Let’s start showing it to folks.”

~~~

If Shin had known exactly what the file in question was, he probably would have pretended the camera didn’t exist.  Unfortunately, by the time Yamaguchi got her hands on it, it was too late.  As a result, he had to listen over and over and _over_ again as Ucchi’s voice said, “We’ve arrived at Naha Airport.  Naha!  Naha!  Naha!  Naha!  Naha!  Naha! HAHAHA!”

If the ever _did_ find Ucchi, Shin was going to have to kill him.

Admittedly, it wasn’t like Yamaguchi had to keep showing the _entire_ clip.  Ucchi wasn’t even in it until the very end!

Unsurprisingly, Yamaguchi was frustratingly resistant to logic on this point and Shin had to endure the clip through almost a dozen showings until they found someone who recognized Ucchi.  Unfortunately, this guy was a foreigner and his Japanese was lousy, which made it hard to tell exactly what he was trying to communicate.  The one thing he did say clearly, however, was that Ucchi had been seen walking towards the beach with a very serious expression on his face.

_Shit_ , Shin thought, sprinting in the direction of the water.

Yamaguchi was running even faster, but she dropped back at one point to ask, “Sawada… do you think Ucchi has any problems?”

Shin gritted his teeth.  Ucchi didn’t _seem_ like the kind of guy to do something stupid, but Shin was well aware that what was seen on the surface wasn’t always the truth.

After a long pause, Yamaguchi said gently, “It’s okay, you don’t have to think about it.”

_Too fucking late for that_ , Shin thought viciously, and picked up the pace.

They reached a beach access point and ran down the stairs, looking around frantically.  “There!” Yamaguchi shouted, sprinting toward the water.  “Ucchi!”

Shin looked in the direction she was heading and saw a guy with curly hair wading out.  He frowned.  From where he was standing, that didn’t really look very much like Ucchi, despite the hair.  “Yamaguchi!” he called.  “Wait!”

But it was too late.  She was already splashing through the water yelling, “Wait, Ucchi!  Don’t do anything rash!”  With a surprising amount of dexterity, she managed a flying tackle while in waist-high water, hitting the curly-haired man so hard his legs came out of the water.

Shin grimaced.  Those _definitely_ weren’t Ucchi’s legs.

Yamaguchi jumped out of the water and shouted, “You might be incorrigible, stupid, shallow, and troublesome, but at least you have a happy go lucky attitude!  I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but trying to kill yourself…”  She sobbed.  “You idiot!”

The man, who’d been struggling against Yamaguchi’s not-very-helpful hold, finally managed to get his head out of the water.  He was at least twenty years older than Ucchi and his face was the color of leather.  “ _You are the idiot!_ ” the man screamed between gasps.

Yamaguchi fell back in surprise.  “Who are you?”

“ _That’s my question!_ ” the man shouted.  To be fair, Shin was pretty sure Yamaguchi had nearly drowned the guy in her haste to save him.

Yamaguchi scowled and got to her feet, slogging her way back to shore, Not Ucchi close on her heels.  Shin met her at the waterline.  “They’re fishing for crabs,” he said quietly, gesturing at the half-dozen guys wandering around the beach.

“Oh,” Yamaguchi said.  “I think maybe that foreigner was trying to say the guy was very tan, not very serious.  Damn it.”  She slid off her long sleeved shirt and wrung it out. 

Shin hastily averted his eyes from the nearly transparent tee-shirt she was wearing underneath.  “You’ll catch a cold dressed like that.  We should go back to the hotel to change.”

She sneezed, and promptly looked irritated at herself.  “There’s not enough time!  It’s almost dawn and we have to get him back before everyone gets up.”

Shin wanted to argue, but she had a point.  “All right,” he said, climbing to his feet.  “Let’s keep looking then.”

They walked for a couple of blocks.  Yamaguchi’s shoes squelched at every step and she sneezed twice, sniffling in between.  “Ugh,” she said.  “Okinawa’s pretty cold at night.”

“That’s because you’re soaked to your underwear,” Shin said.

Yamaguchi puffed up like she was going to yell at him.  He slid off his overshirt and tossed it at her, cutting her off. 

“Oh,” she said.  “Thank you.”  She grinned as she put on the shirt.  “Can’t say no to a beautiful woman, huh?”

Shin’s heart lurched, even though her tone of voice was teasing.  “Fuck off.”

She laughed, and pulled the edges of the shirt tight around her body.

They walked some more.

“What’s our plan?” Shin asked.

“I guess we should keep talking to people,” Yamaguchi answered.  “Though there’s not many people out this late.  Although…”  She squinted.  “It looks like there’s some folks up there.”

She picked up the pace and Shin hurried after.  As they got closer, however, he started to get a bit nervous.  Those “folks” looked sketchy.  “Um, Yamaguchi…”

It was too late, she was already calling out, “Excuse me, but—”

She was cut off by a guy who went running past.  “Hey!” the guy shouted.  “I heard Ucchi was kidnapped!  Is it true?”

Later, Shin would blame exhaustion for what happened next.  There was no other explanation he could come up with to justify joining an Okinawa gang as they raided a warehouse to reclaim their kidnapped leader that just happened to be named Ucchi.

Of course, an utter lack of logic didn’t slow down Yamaguchi.  By the time Shin, who’d gotten a ride on the last motorcycle, caught up with Yamaguchi, she’d already decimated the rival gang and rescued the Okinawa Ucchi, who was approximately six feet tall and built like a brick shithouse.

Shin sighed.  He was very, very tired.

The upshot of this was Okinawa Ucchi’s gang helping out in the search for Shirokin Ucchi.  With a dozen local guys on the hunt, it took less than fifteen minutes to track Ucchi down.  He was located in a playground, taking shelter in the concrete pipe that, during the day, kids used as a play tunnel.

He’d also found a cat.

Yamaguchi was twitching with fury by the time she and Shin made it to the park and he made sure to stand well back when she went in to drag Ucchi from the tunnel.

The chewing out that followed was epic, and also involved a lot of slapping.

Shin gave her a minute or two to vent some of her frustration before stepping in.  “Uh, Yamaguchi, it’s getting light out.  Shouldn’t we be getting back?”

“Please?” Ucchi sobbed, his cheeks swollen from the slaps.  “Can we please go back?”

“Fine,” Yamaguchi said, stepping back.  “But this had better not _ever_ happen again.”

“It won’t!  I swear!”

Privately, Shin thought Ucchi might actually be right.  There was no way Yamaguchi was going to be able to hide her strength after this fiasco, especially after Noda got hold of the story.  It was going to spread through Shirokin like wildfire and students were going to end up a lot more careful in their behavior when Yamaguchi was around.

Okinawa Ucchi’s gang kindly gave them all a ride to the hotel.  Apparently the teachers had decided that there wasn’t much risk of the students sneaking out at dawn, because there was no one to see them come in except for Noda, who was sitting in the lobby, looking depressed.

“You’re back!” he said, jumping to his feet.  He stared at Ucchi, whose face had now swollen up like a balloon.  “Uh… who are you?  And why do you have a cat?”

Ucchi just sobbed.


	16. Shin to the Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the last third of the chapter from hell. Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for helping to wrangle this beast into submission!

The rest of the trip sucked.  Yamaguchi didn’t tell the other teachers about what happened with Ucchi, but that didn’t stop her from ruling the second years with an iron fist.  Shin hadn’t even thought it was possible to enforce a 6 p.m. curfew on a bunch of teenage boys, but she managed.  Admittedly, she didn’t get much sleep in the process and as the rest of the trip went by, she got more and more worn-looking.

Shin worried about her, but the little pocket of time in Okinawa where she’d treated him as an adult had passed.  Now he was just her student, and it wasn’t his place to mention her obviously declining health.

Well, at least not when they were surrounded by witnesses.  If it had just been the two of them, he would’ve taken the risk.

By the time they got on the plane back to Shirokin, everyone was exhausted and grumpy except for the vice principal, who was cheerfully celebrating the most scandal-free class trip in Shirokin history.  Shin kept an eye on Yamaguchi, who looked ready to drop.  She was asleep before the plane even took off.  Hopefully it would do her some good.

Except that she didn’t look very good on Monday.  Her energy levels were low, she barely berated anyone, and she slumped visibly at the end of class.  “Shit,” he muttered as Noda came up to talk to him.  “Do you think Yamaguchi’s sick?”

Noda, who’d been nattering on about Kinoshita, looked back at Yamaguchi.  “She seems the same to me.”

Shin frowned.  “Must be from running around in wet clothes all night.”

Noda stared at him.  “What?”

Shin shook his head.  Why had he said that out loud?  “Nothing.  I’m heading home.”

He berated himself all the way home.  Noda may not be the brightest person on the planet, but he wasn’t stupid.  He was also a notorious gossip.  If Shin had to pick the worst person in the school to find out about his crush, Noda would be near the top of the list.

Shin was still weighing the possibility of Noda figuring out Shin’s feelings when his brand new cell phone rang.  The whole gang had gone shopping for cell phones in solidarity with Ucchi, who had lost his original phone in Okinawa.  Shin still wasn’t sure how to feel about the phone; he wasn’t thrilled about being so accessible.

Kuma was on the other end.  “Shin!  You gotta come!  I’m following a car!”

Shin frowned.  “Kuma, slow down.  I can’t understand you.”

“It’s Yankumi!  She’s been kidnapped!  I saw Kudou grab her behind the school.”

Shin froze.  “ _What?_ ”

“She just fell over, Shin!  She didn’t fight Kudou at all!”

“Shit,” Shin breathed.  She really must be sick after all.  “Tell me where you are.”

Based on Kuma’s directions, it sounded like Kudou was still part of the Nekomata group and heading to their building.  Shin closed his cell phone – now firmly in the category of “essential device” – and tried not to think about his last experience at that building or about the month he’d spent recovering.

Yamaguchi was in trouble.  That was all that mattered.

Taking a deep breath, Shin put his phone away and ran.

~~~

He was panting for air by the time he made it to the Nekomata building.  “Shin-chan!” Kuma said when Shin dropped down next to him, wheezing.

“Yamaguchi,” Shin said between gasps.  “Is she inside?”

“Yeah,” Kuma said.  “They just carried her in.  But why would they kidnap Yankumi?”

Shin managed to get his breathing under control.  Ignoring Kuma’s question, he asked, “How many people are there?”

“Three, I think.”  Kuma looked up.  “Why?”

“Because I’m going in there to get her.”

Kuma grabbed Shin, holding him in place.  “Shin-chan, you can’t!  They’re yakuza!  You’ll get killed!”

“If I don’t, Yamaguchi will get hurt!”

“Okay, I get that, but if you go rushing in there all stupid, she’ll get hurt too!”

Shin paused.  The idea that _Kuma_ of all people would be telling Shin he was stupid… and, damn it, Kuma had a point.  “Fuck!”

Kuma hesitantly let Shin go and Shin dropped down to sit on the sidewalk.  “Fuck,” he repeated wearily.

“I think we should call the police,” Kuma said.

“We can’t,” Shin said wearily.  “If this is a conflict between yakuza, it’ll affect Yamaguchi’s position as a teacher.”

Kuma looked baffled.  “Why?”

Even with the shit they were in, Shin felt his lips try to twitch up in a smile.  He loved Kuma, but dear God his friend was thick.  “Listen, Kuma, do you remember the Kuroda family house?”

“Yeah?” Kuma said warily.  “Why?”

“I need you to go there right now.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I need you to tell them that Yamaguchi’s been kidnapped and bring them here.”

“Are you kidding?” Kuma asked.  “They’re really scary!”

“It’ll be _fine_ ,” Shin said, losing his patience.  Yamaguchi was inside the building and who knew what those bastards were doing to her.  “I’ll explain it all later, but you have to go _now_.”

Kuma stared back.  “I don’t want to.  Shin-chan… they’ll kill me.”

“They _won’t_ ,” Shin snapped.  “I promise!  Now, _please_ , go!”

Kuma’s eyes welled up.  “O-okay.”  He sniffed and got onto his scooter, whimpering thanks to Shin for taking care of him over the years.

Shin felt a little bad as he watched Kuma go, but the Kuroda family knew that Kuma was one of Yamaguchi’s students.  He’d be fine.  And without that backup, Shin and Yamaguchi could be dead.

Behind him, he heard the door to the Nekomata building open and he ducked behind a wall.  Looking around the corner, Shin saw Kudou and another guy leaving the building.  _Fucker_ , Shin thought as he watched Kudou leave.  Still, it meant Shin had a window of opportunity.  Kuma said that there were three guys.  With two of them leaving, that meant there was only one watching over Yamaguchi.

Shin crept across the yard in front of the building.  Halfway there, a loud voice started singing some old nursery rhyme about a clock.  Shin hesitated; it sounded like the singing was coming from inside the building.

Oh, well.  At least it would make it hard for anyone to hear him.  He picked up the pace and cracked the door open.

The guard was sitting just inside, with his chair facing toward Yamaguchi – who was lying on the floor, tied up and apparently unconscious – and away from the door.

Shin eased the door shut.  Okay, so the guy was an idiot.  With a terrible singing voice.  He still looked strong.  Shin frowned and looked around the yard for a weapon.

He had to settle on a plank of wood.  It looked kind of rotten, but he figured it was better than his bare hands and he carefully inched his way back to the building.  The singing was still going in full force.  Even when Shin opened the door and slipped inside, the singing didn’t miss a beat.

Raising the wood above his head, he slammed it down on the guard’s head.  “Sorry,” he said with a wince as the guard fell off his chair with a thud.  “Sorry,” he said again as he checked to make sure the guy still had a pulse.

Then he ran over to Yamaguchi.  “Hey,” he said, dropping to his knees next to her.  “Are you okay?”

No response.  He put a hand to her forehead.  Shit.  She was burning with fever.

Shin was debating what to do when arms grabbed him by the waist and lifted him into the air.  Apparently the guard had a thicker head than Shin thought.

Without difficulty, the guard threw Shin across the room, slamming him into the chair in the process and, Shin was pretty sure, dislocating his left arm.  “Shit,” Shin groaned as he tried to pick himself up.  “What kind of monster are you?”

The guard growled and started forward.

Shin forced himself to his feet and threw his entire body weight into a right uppercross.  The guard fell back, looking a little surprised, then climbed back up to his feet.  Shin punched the guard again and again, but the punches seemed to do nothing other than give him bruised knuckles and a few seconds to catch his breath before the guard inevitably came at him again.

Shin slumped back against the wall.  This guy was too slow to be an offensive threat, but he just wouldn’t stay down and Shin was having a tough time lifting his arms, much less throwing a punch.

He glanced over at Yamaguchi, who was still unconscious.  _If Kudou shows up now, we’re fucked._

The damn guard came at him again, despite the fact that his face was bleeding from multiple cuts.  Utterly out of ideas and unable to throw another punch, Shin headbutted the guy in the chin.

There was an ominous crunching noise.  The guard dropped to the ground and this time, he didn’t move.

Shin frowned and nudged him with his foot.  Nothing.

“Oh, thank God,” Shin said, slumping over.

Unfortunately he couldn’t rest for long.  The knowledge that Kudou could already be on his way back drove Shin to his feet.  Hobbling over to Yamaguchi, he looked down at her and tried to figure out what to do.

Obviously they couldn’t stay here.  Equally obviously, she wasn’t going to be moving under her own power.  Which only left one option.

This was going to _suck_ with a dislocated shoulder.

Frankly, just getting Yamaguchi upright was a bit of a nightmare and in the end Shin had to drag her to the wall to get her to sit up long enough for him to drape her arms over his shoulders.  Taking a deep breath, he forced himself up out of his crouch.  Still using the wall to support Yamaguchi, he forced his left arm to reach down and grab Yamaguchi’s knee, pulling it up over his hip.

Okay.  That could’ve been worse.  And, hey, it probably meant his shoulder wasn’t actually dislocated.  Bonus.

The next step was to pull up Yamaguchi’s right leg, but he didn’t quite have the energy for that just yet.  He gave himself two minutes to lean against the wall before hitching Yamaguchi fully into position so he could carry her out.

He’d just managed to get her in place when he heard her laughing softly.  With her head draped over his right shoulder, it sounded like she was laughing right in his ear.  “Yamaguchi?  Why’re you laughing?”

“Sensei,” she said, nuzzling Shin’s neck.

He swallowed past a suddenly tight throat.  “Who?” he choked out.

Yamaguchi squeezed his chest tightly.  “Shinohara-sensei…”  She laughed again.

Shin’s heart stopped in his chest.  Shinohara – he remembered that name from when Yamaguchi had rescued him from his father.  She’d blushed at the sound of that name.

Feeling cranky, he forced his feet to move.  “Stop messing around,” he said as he shuffled his way to the door.  “That name really pisses me off.”

He managed to make it outside and halfway across the yard before a car pulled up to the sidewalk.  Shin squinted at the tinted windows, trying to make out the shape of who might be inside.

The car door opened.  Kudou stepped out.

Shin’s heart sank.

“What the hell are you doing, Sawada?” Kudou shouted.

“Damn it,” Shin muttered, letting Yamaguchi slide to the ground.  He shifted so that he was standing between her and Kudou.

Kudou laughed mockingly.  “Too bad.  You tried so hard to play the hero.”

Shin sighed.  He was too tired to play games.  “Kudou, what do you want with her?”

“Originally I just wanted to kidnap her for a while,” Kudou said as the driver of the car stepped up to Kudou’s side.  “Plan’s changed.  I can’t let her live now.  You either.”

Shin smothered a groan and shifted himself into a fighting stance.  He felt creaky and old, but he wasn’t going to just lay down and die.

Kudou laughed.  “Look at this guy.  Can’t even stand straight and he still wants to fight.”  He pulled out a knife.  “How brave.  You must like her a lot.”  His voice dropped to a lower register.  “Tell you what.  I’ll bury you two together.”

Shin blinked and suddenly there was Kyou, standing behind Kudou.  Shin blinked again, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Apparently not, as Kyou grabbed Kudou and his lackey and cracked their heads together before punching Kudou out and kicking the lackey into unconsciousness.  “You bastards kidnapped our ojou!” he shouted at the two bodies on the ground.  “Get up and give me all you got, you bastards!”

“Um…” Minoru said, leaning over Kudou.  “I think they’re unconscious, boss.”

“Kyou-san,” Shin breathed.  He slumped back, nearly falling over Yamaguchi’s body.  “We’re saved.”

“Oh, shit,” Kyou said.  “Are you okay, Red?”

“What’s wrong with Ojou?” Minoru added.

“I think she’s okay,” Shin said, answering the more important question.  “But she’s running a high fever.”

“Her cold’s probably getting worse,” Kyou said.  “What’s wrong with your arm?”

A car screeched to a halt, interrupting Shin’s answer.  “Someone’s here,” Kyou said, getting into a defensive position in front of Yamaguchi.

The door opened and a man jumped out.  “Oh,” Tetsu said, not sounding worried in the slightest.  “Shinohara-sensei!” he shouted.  “Over here!”

Shin’s eyes widened and he took a second look at the guy running up to them.  He was handsome, Shin had to admit.  Tall, sharply dressed.  And he did look worried.

“Kyou-san,” Shinohara said as he skidded to a halt next to them.  “How’s Kumiko?”

Shin felt a growl building up in his chest.  Apparently this asshole got to use Yamaguchi’s given name.

None of the yakuza guys protested, either.  Kyou just looked up and said, “I think she’s fine.”

Shinohara let out a sigh.  “Thank God.”

There was a bit more conversation, but Shin tuned it out as he forced himself to his feet.  Fuck.  He didn’t even remember sitting down!

“Oh, hey,” Kyou said.  “Are you okay?  Don’t force yourself.”

Shin ignored him, turning to Shinohara.  He tried to figure out how to express everything he’d felt as Yamaguchi laughed in his ear, thinking he was Shinohara.  That was clearly impossible, so he settled on the most aggressive gesture he was currently capable of – tapping Shinohara in the chest with a finger – and said the most damning thing he could think of: “You’re late.”

Shinohara stared at him.  “What?”

Shin stared back for a moment, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he turned and walked away.

Behind him, Kyou called out, “Hey!  I’ll give you a ride back.”

“I’m fine,” Shin lied and kept on walking.

Thank God Kuma was puttering up in his scooter.  Shin honestly wasn’t sure if he would’ve survived the long walk home.

~~~

That night he made an important decision: he needed a girlfriend.  As soon as possible.

~~~

Maybe due to the record number of times he’d been hit in the last year, Shin was finding his recovery time was dramatically improved.  This time he only had to take one day off before going back to school.  Other than a sore shoulder, he actually felt fine.  Amazing what seventeen consecutive hours of sleep could do.

Yamaguchi was not in school the day that Shin came back, which he found worrying.  Then he remembered that she had _Shinohara_ taking care of her and decided to stop giving a shit.

Easy to say.  Hard to do.

The day after that, Shin was lying on a bench behind the school and getting ready for a nap when he felt a shadow fall over his face.  He opened his eyes to see Yamaguchi standing next to him, smiling.  “Hey!” she said.

Shin sighed, but pushed himself upright.  Not giving a shit wasn’t really working for him, anyway.  “Your cold’s already better?”

“Yep.  Totally recovered.  Apparently I slept for two whole days.”  Her smile turned a little shy.  “It sounds like you really helped me out a lot this time.  I don’t remember much because of the fever, but what they said happened… if you didn’t rescue me, it could have been ugly.”

She bowed.  “Sawada, thank you.”

Shin jumped to his feet.  He was definitely not emotionally equipped to deal with this today.  “It was nothing.  Besides, I owe you a lot.  Just returning the favor.”  He headed down the street, ignoring her when she called after him.

~~~

He was still thinking about that shy smile when he wandered into class the next morning.  She’d never looked that way at him before.  Not ever.  And the way his stomach had knotted up at the sight…

Well, whatever.  She was a teacher.  He was a student.  And, anyway, she liked someone.  _Shinohara._   He sneered at his desk.

“Shin!  Are you listening?”

Shin’s attention snapped back outward to see all of his friends staring at him.  “Sorry, what?”

Noda huffed in annoyance.  “You’re always like this!  What the hell?”

“Oh, shut up.  What’d you want?”

There was a bit more grumbling before Noda hooked an arm around Kinoshita, who was hovering nearby.  “Kinoshita’s girlfriend has a friend who fell in love with you at the school festival.  She wants an introduction.”

“I heard she’s really hot,” Minami offered.

“ _And_ she’s got big boobs!” Ucchi said.

Shin stared at them.  “Oh.”

His first reaction was, _Oh, hell, not again_.  His second reaction was, _Well, I did say I needed a girlfriend._

Around him, his friends were bemoaning Shin’s general lack of interest in girls and telling Kinoshita that there was no chance of Shin saying yes.

Shin heartily wanted to agree with them, but if he was serious about wanting to get over Yamaguchi, he was going to have to go on a date sometime.  Might as well give it a try.  “I’ll go.”

Everyone stared at him in shock.

“Really?” Ucchi gasped.

“What’s gotten into you?” Noda said, looking oddly angry at Shin’s answer.

“It’s not a big deal,” Shin lied.  “I’ve just got some free time.”

At that moment the door opened and Yamaguchi walked in.

Shin stared at her, memories flashing through his mind: her nuzzling his neck, saying Shinohara’s name.  Shinohara calling out for her as he came running.  Her shy smile as she stood over him at the bench.

“I’m an idiot,” he said to himself, then got up and left.

~~~

Thankfully Shin didn’t have to wait forever for this date to occur – he was supposed to meet Kinoshita, Kinoshita’s girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s friend next to the train station after school that day.  Shin spent most of the intervening time walking around Shirokin and cursing his stupid temper.  He was going to have to stop walking out of rooms every time Yamaguchi came in, if for no other reason than because his current allowance came with attendance requirements.  He didn’t want to end up back at his dad’s house.

By the time he made his way to the train station, Shin had decided that this date was going to go well.  The girl would be interesting, they’d have a good time, and Shin would finally have something to focus on other than his ridiculous feelings for Yamaguchi.

It got off to an okay start.  Kinoshita made the introductions and the girl – Hiromi – seemed nice enough.  Not as energetic as Yamaguchi, of course, but that was a high bar to set.  Shin suggested that they go for a walk and Hiromi nodded eagerly.

As they turned to go down the street, Shin spotted his friends a block back, watching.  He sighed silently.  They all needed to get a life, so they’d stop trying to vicariously live through Shin’s.

Having never really gone on a date before, Shin let Hiromi decide which stores to stop in on their walk.  They ended up in a coffee shop, a fortuneteller’s studio, and a photo booth.  Shin ended up shelling out money at each shop, which was a side of dating he’d failed to consider.  Not that he was broke, but should he ever end up dating someone seriously, he was going to need more money than his allowance.

By the time they stopped for a break in a park, Shin was seriously considering throwing himself in front of a car.  It wasn’t that Hiromi was a bad person or anything, she was just _boring_.  Even though Shin had not picked a single stop on their walk, he hadn’t felt a moment of surprise at the stores she chose or the conversations she started or the personal tidbits she shared.  Compared to Yamaguchi—

Well, that was the problem, wasn’t it?  Compared to Yamaguchi, _everyone_ was boring.  Hiromi never really stood a chance.

After a quarter of an hour at the park, Shin was trying to come up with a graceful way to end this date without any of the guys – still spying, like the creepers they were – getting suspicious.  He was talking with Hiromi on autopilot at this point, so it took him longer than it should for him to realize that she was trying to wrangle an invitation to his apartment.

He hesitated as he realized that Hiromi might very well be offering him sex.  It was so far outside what he expected of this date that he wasn’t even sure how to respond.

Looking more closely at Hiromi, he imagined her lying on his bed and him crawling on top of her.  Immediately, he had to force down a cringe.  There was no part of that image that was appealing to him.

She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him off the bench.  “Come on.  I’ve never seen a boy’s room before and I want to see yours.”

Shin stared at her with distaste, but when he looked back the guys were still watching them from the bushes.  Heaving an irritated sigh, he let her pull him down the street.  He’d keep an eye out for an opportunity to shake her.  Worst case scenario, he could just refuse to let her into his apartment.

They were halfway to Shin’s apartment building when they walked past a milling crowd of thuggish men in dark suits.  “Hey,” a guy with a scarred face said, looking at the way Hiromi was holding Shin’s hand.  “Don’t get all touchy-feely in public.”

Hiromi let go of Shin’s hand and ducked behind him.  “I don’t like him, Sawada-kun,” she said.  “He’s mean.”

Then she gasped.  “Wait!  Why are there so many scary guys here?”

Shin rolled his eyes.  There was an actual, literal sign just to the right of the door, announcing that this was the Tanukibara group’s succession ceremony.

Wait a minute.  He read the sign again.  Shit.  This was one of Kuroda’s allies, wasn’t it?  Shin looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that his friends had finally disappeared.  The last thing this situation needed was Kuma recognizing someone from all of his run-ins with the yakuza.

“Sawada-kun, I don’t like this,” Hiromi said.  “Let’s go a different way.”

Shin ignored her in favor of a familiar car pulling up to the curb.  The back door opened and Yamaguchi stepped out, in full traditional clothing.  Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she tried to lunge past.

He had to duck his head to hide a smile.  “Too late.”

She sighed and turned to face him.  “Honestly, why do I always bump into you in these places?”

“I should be asking you that,” Shin said.  Less than twenty words in and this conversation was already vastly more interesting than anything Hiromi had said since they’d met.

Suddenly, Yamaguchi stiffened.  “Are you alone?  Where are the other guys?”

“They’re not with me,” Shin said hastily.

Yamaguchi didn’t seem to hear him; her eyes were suddenly looking over his shoulder.

Shin glanced back to see Hiromi staring.

Hands grabbed the lapels of his jacket, jerking his attention back to Yamaguchi.  “You’re on a date?” she asked urgently.

“Shhh,” he hissed back.

“You dirty dog!  What kind of trouble are you getting into?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Hey!  I’m your homeroom teacher.  I’m responsible for making sure you stay on the right path.”

“Please stop talking now.”

A warm, gruff voice interrupted them.  “Sawada.  I’ve been hoping to see you.”

Shin swallowed and, after a brief hesitation, opted to use Kuroda’s yakuza title.  “Kumichou.”

Kuroda smiled.  “I wanted to thank you for that business with Nekomata.  You rescued her just in time.”

“Oh, no… I didn’t do much.”

Kyou and Wakamatsu, who were standing behind Kuroda, bowed.

Whispers suddenly broke out in the crowd of yakuza.  Shin had almost forgotten they were there.

Yamaguchi shifted close enough to elbow Shin in the side.  As usual, she misjudged her strength and Shin winced.  He was going to have a bruise there.  “That girl’s pretty cute,” Yamaguchi said with an open smile.  “Good luck, brat.”

Her face falling back into a serious expression, she walked past him and into the crowd.

Shin closed his eyes.  _I am such an idiot._

“Um, Sawada-kun,” Hiromi said hesitantly.  “Do you know these people?”

“Not… really?”  She still looked expectant, so he added, “I’m sorry, I don’t know that I can—”

“Young Master Red Lion!”

Shin straightened as a dozen voices called out his ridiculous yakuza name, all at the same time.  With a sense of dread, he turned around to see most of the crowd – all men twice his age or more – bowing to him.  In unison, they said, “We, Tanukibara-kumi’s second generation, hope to work well with you in the future, too.”

Shin choked down a pained noise.  “Uh, no… I should be saying that to you.”

Behind him, he heard a high pitched whimper.  “Red lion?”

Shit.  Shin spun back around, already saying, “No, don’t worry, they mistook me—”

It was too late; Hiromi was already running away.

Shin looked back to the crowd of dark-suited yakuza who were making their way into the building.

After a moment, he felt his lips twitching and he couldn’t quite hold back a laugh.  “Holy shit,” he breathed softly.  “No wonder she was scared away.”

Feeling lighter than he had in days, Shin headed back home.

~~~

Of course, on Monday – the last Monday of the school year – he got grilled by the guys.

“She ran away?” Ucchi said incredulously.  “Why?”

“What did you do to her?” Minaimi added.

“Nothing,” Shin said irritably.  If this was the kind of hassle that came with dating, he was going to avoid it like the plague in the future.

“Then why did she run away?” Minami asked.

“Yeah, she was totally into you,” Ucchi added.

Noda smacked Ucchi on the back of the head.  Shin sighed.  Apparently the guys actually thought he hadn’t seen them following Shin on the date.

“So what happened?” Kuma asked.

Because it was Kuma, Shin throttled his impatience with repeating himself.  “Nothing.”  He thought back to the run-in with the yakuza and his lips twitched.

“What’s with that?” Minami asked, pointing at Shin’s lips.

“Yeah, that doesn’t look like nothing,” Ucchi added.

Noda cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him.  “Actually, I’ve been wondering… Shin-chan, do you like Yankumi?”

For a moment, Shin froze.  Hell, _everyone_ froze.  Then all the guys started laughing and saying that Shin couldn’t ever like someone like Yankumi.

As for Shin… he was conflicted.  On the one hand, he’d never expected to tell anyone about his feelings for Yamaguchi.  On the other hand, he’d expected these feelings to go away a long time ago, and that hadn’t happened.  If anything, they’d gotten stronger.

These guys, annoying as they could be, were his friends.  And, honestly, Shin was getting tired of keeping such a massive secret as this to himself.  There were so many other secrets he couldn’t share but this one, this one was safe.

So he said it.  “I think… probably… yeah.”

The outrage was palpable.  “What?” Kuma said, astonished.

“Why?” Minami yelped.

“Yeah, her chest is flatter than an airport runway,” Ucchi added.

Shin glared at him.  “…and?”

Ucchi looked baffled by that response.  “Oh, wait!  Maybe Yankumi turns into a total babe when she takes off her glasses?”

“We see her take her glasses off all the time,” Minami yelled.  “She looks exactly the same!”

As the attention turned to Ucchi and away from Shin, he let out a silent sigh of relief.  It was out there now.  The words had been said.

Suddenly, the urge to smile was unbearable.  Shin ducked his head to hide it.

In a few weeks, the new school year would begin, Shin’s last ever at Shirokin.

Shin had never been more ready.


	17. A New School Year Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

As Kumiko pulled up to Shirokin at the start of her second year as a teacher, she thought back to the first time she’d seen the school.  Back then she’d been dismayed at its appearance.  It had looked like a prison.

Now it looked comforting and familiar.  She was grateful that she was able to stay for another year; according to her professors at university, most teachers were moved to a new school after the first year.  They’d warned her and her classmates to mentally prepare themselves for the need to emotionally separate from their first class.

She was glad she didn’t have to do that.  It turned out that she was terrible at emotional separation.

In the teachers’ lounge she learned that _no one_ had transferred schools over the summer, which she thought was unusual.  Then again, looking around at the motley crew, she could imagine that it would be hard to find other schools that would take most of them.  There was one change, though: Kobayashi, the literature teacher, had retired.  About time, too: the man had looked a hundred years old.

Kobayashi’s replacement was a teacher recommended by the chairman.  Considering the chairman’s goal was to shut down the school, Kumiko found herself awaiting his arrival with a combination of curiosity and dread.  The other teachers seemed to feel the same, though all of them appeared to be hoping for someone interesting and unique.

The new guy, Miura, proved to be a disappointment: utterly average in height, dress, and appearance.  He was going to serve as a literature teacher and guidance counselor, which Kumiko found interesting – Shirokin hadn’t had a guidance counselor the year before.  Considering the utter lack of future thinking in the students, it was probably a thankless job.

Miura’s first day wasn’t promising.  His attempts to exert authority over the students was a dismal failure and his attempts to teach were even worse.  By the end of the day, half of the students who were supposed to be in his class were hanging out on the roof.

Kumiko thought about stepping in to help – after all, her first few days had been rough, too.  Knowing that Miura had been recommended by the chairman was a barrier, though.  She could only imagine what the chairman might’ve said about her.

Besides, her life was getting busier as she continued to bond with her students.  Three days in and Ucchi asked her to stay late as he’d “learned something interesting about the school”.

“Something interesting” turned out to be a ghost story.  Kumiko, who’d always been a sucker for ghost stories, listened avidly as Ucchi told them about a ghost that roamed the halls of Shirokin, sobbing.  The gender of the ghost was apparently in dispute, but the idea that there might be a real live specter in Shirokin was intriguing.

When the guys announced their intention to search the school for a ghost, they even invited her along!  She’d hidden a smile.  No matter how much they might protest, her boys really did like her.

Weird that Sawada had wanted to go home instead, but the boys convinced him otherwise.

Which was how Kumiko and Sawada’s group of friends ended up walking through the halls of Shirokin a good hour after everyone else had left.  “I think we should start in the filing room,” Ucchi said.  “I got the key.”

Kumiko beamed at him, impressed with his initiative.  “Good job!”  She leaned forward into the file room once it was open.  “Oooh,” she said.  “I think I feel a strange vibe.”

Behind her Sawada said dryly, “Don’t you come in here nearly every day?  What vibe did you feel then?”

Before Kumiko could answer, she heard a boy shout, “Yankumi, I think something is moving inside!” and a hand shoved her forward.

Kumiko, caught off guard, stumbled into the room.  A half-second later, the door slammed shut and she heard the lock click.

Those _assholes_!  She was going to _kill them_!

Spinning back to the door, she groped around for the handle in the darkness.  The moment she found it, she started twisting at it futilely.  “Guys!  Stop joking around here!  Guys?”

Nothing at all.

Kumiko stumbled back.  The room was pitch black.  She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.  “No,” she whimpered.  “They wouldn’t have gone home.”

She didn’t find herself very convincing.

Suddenly light flooded the room and Kumiko jumped with a yelp.  She looked around the room frantically until her eyes caught a glimpse of familiar red hair.  “S-sawada!” she gasped, feeling her heart pounding away.  “Did they leave you behind?”

Sawada scowled.

Kumiko laughed, suddenly feeling light years better.  “How stupid of them to forget their friend!”

“This is no time to be laughing,” Sawada growled.  “We’re locked in the file room.”

“It’s okay,” Kumiko said, all of her earlier fear gone.  “We’ll just wait for the teacher on duty to…”  Oh.  Shit.

“What?” Sawada asked.

“I’m the teacher on duty today,” Kumiko muttered.

There was a long pause.  “Great,” Sawada said flatly, sliding down to sit on the floor, his back against a cabinet.

Kumiko let out a sigh.  “I’m going to kill those kids.”

“I’ll help,” Sawada offered.

Kumiko smiled despite herself.  The moment of levity quickly passed, however, and she started pacing.  Unfortunately the room wasn’t really large enough to accommodate pacing – she barely managed three steps before she had to turn around again.  That did nothing to improve her mood, and she entertained herself by thinking of all of the horrible things she was going to do to her damn students.

“Please stop pacing,” Sawada said after a few minutes.  “This room is too small.”

“I know,” Kumiko said.  She dropped down next to him.  “But I don’t have anything else to do!”  She took a deep breath, trying to calm her still-racing heart.  “I can’t stay in here until morning!”

She froze, as a horrible thought came to her.  “You don’t think they’ll leave us until morning, do you?”

Sawada just bowed his head.

Kumiko’s heart rate rose to dangerous levels.  She’d always been a little claustrophobic.

“Sawada,” she choked out.  “Say something.”

He huffed.  “You say something.”

“O-okay,” she said.  That was fair.  But what the hell could she…  “Oh!  You’re a third year now.  It’s time to think about the future.”  She felt her heart start to slow as she warmed to her subject.  “The economy isn’t doing very well right now, so you’ll need to think long-term about—”

“For fuck’s sake,” Sawada said.  “Stop talking.”

“All right,” Kumiko said, slightly offended, but grateful that they weren’t just going to sit there in silence.  “Then you have to say something now.”

Sawada opened his mouth, hesitated, then asked, “Is Shinohara-sensei your boyfriend?”

Kumiko just about fell over in surprise.  “ _What?_   No, not at all!  You idiot!  He’s just the group’s lawyer!  That’s all!”

“Okay, okay,” Sawada said quickly.  “Stop yelling.”

“Why do you even know about him?” Kumiko snapped.

“He was there.  When I… when you were kidnapped.”  He paused.  “So you’ve got a crush on him.”

“ _What?_ ” Kumiko shrieked, even louder.  “What are you saying?  Wait!  Don’t say anything!  Just stop talking!”

“You were the one who wanted to talk,” Sawada said with a shrug.

Kumiko growled and leaned back against the cabinet.  As she did so, she saw a small window in the corner of the room.  “Hey, did you see that?  Sawada, come over here so I can stand on your shoulders.”

“You’re not thinking of going through there, are you?” he asked, though he obediently went to stand under the window.

Kumiko used some boxes to help her climb up on his shoulders.  “I can fit through the window easily.”

“That’s not the point,” Sawada said, grunting as he took her weight.

She opened the window.

“The problem is we’re on the third floor,” he finished, just as Kumiko looked down at the drop to the ground below.

She instinctively pushed back from the edge, slipping off of Sawada’s shoulders in the process.  They both tumbled to the ground.

“Ouch,” Kumiko said, though the surface she’d fallen on was surprisingly soft.  “Sawada?  You okay?”

“Get off me,” came Sawada’s voice and Kumiko realized that the surface she’d fallen on was _him_.

“Oh, sorry,” she said hastily, shifting forward so she was no longer sitting on his crotch.  _That_ was embarrassing.

“God, nothing good happens when you’re around.”

“Hey,” she started to protest, when a loud voice called out:

“ _Yamaguchi-sensei!_ ”

Kumiko looked up to see Miura standing in the doorway, holding a cell phone.  “Miura-sensei!” she said, relieved to see him, even if he did seem to be taking pictures.  “Thank goodness.  Some students shut us in and—”

“What were you two _doing_?” Miura shouted at her.

“Uh,” Kumiko said, realizing that she was still sitting between Sawada’s legs.  “Oh!”  She jumped to her feet, getting outside Sawada’s personal space.  “No!  That was just an accident.  I was trying to—”

“This is a huge problem,” Miura said, looking strangely satisfied, despite his words.  “A teacher and a student on top of each other in a closet at night?”  He tsked.

“This was just a prank by the students!” Kumiko protested.  “They locked the door so we couldn’t get out.”

“But the door wasn’t locked,” Miura said.

Kumiko gaped at him.  “The door was _absolutely_ locked.”

“What kind of game are you playing?” Sawada said.  She could hear his voice just over her shoulder.  On the one hand, she felt a little better for his support.  On the other hand, under the circumstances, he’d be better off on the other side of the room.

Miura let out a theatrical sigh.  “As an educator, I can’t pretend not to have seen this, especially since there is photographic evidence.  I don’t want to, but I have to report this to the administration.”

Kumiko stared at him.  “ _The administration?_   What are you talking about?  It was a prank!”

“I’m only doing my duty,” Miura said.  “After all, a student and a teacher all alone—”

Suddenly the principal’s voice came from behind a pile of boxes.  “They weren’t alone.  I’m here!”

Kumiko felt her eyes get _very_ wide.  “Principal!”

Miura’s face lost its smugness.  “When did _you_ get here?”

“Oh, I was here from the beginning,” the principal said and Kumiko’s wide eyes were now accompanied by burning cheeks.

“Not possible,” Miura said.  “I have these pictures as…  Oh!”

Kumiko moved around so she could see his phone.  The resolution wasn’t great, but the principal was clearly visible in the background.  She lifted her head to stare at him.

He beamed back.  “See!  No problem.”  He moved forward to hook arms with Kumiko and, after dragging her over a step, Sawada.  “We were organizing files together.”

“…right,” Miura said.  “I’m so… relieved.”

He spun on his heel and left.

Kumiko turned on the principal.  “You’ve been here this _whole time_?”

The principal looked sheepish.  “I got locked in accidentally.  To pass the time, I decided to take a nap.  I woke up when I heard voices.”  In a falsetto voice he said, “Why don’t _you_ say something.  Oh, no, _you_ say something.”  In his normal voice he added, “Voices like that.”

Kumiko glared.  “We did _not_ sound like that.”

“You started eavesdropping that early?” Sawada asked, sounding pissed.  “Why didn’t you say something?”

The principal adopted an angelic expression and refused to answer.

“Though, with those pictures of us, it was a miracle you were here,” Kumiko admitted.

“Who is that guy, anyway?” Sawada asked.  “He’s clearly out to frame us.”

The principal sobered.  “Miura Hiroki.  He’s a spy of my older bro—that is, the chairman.”

“I knew it!” Kumiko crowed.

The principal nodded and started toward the door.  Kumiko hurried to follow, Sawada close behind.  “Miura seems to have come to the school to sabotage Yamaguchi-sensei,” the principal continued as they walked down the hall.  “The chairman holds a grudge from last year.”

“That baldie!” Kumiko yelled.

“Uh,” the principal said, rubbing his bald head.  “Anyway, please be careful around Miura-sensei.  If he finds out about your family, who knows what will happen.”

Kumiko promised to be careful and said goodbye to Sawada.  On the way home, she mulled over the Miura problem.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to come up with any answers.


	18. The Stalker and the Festival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, much thanks and much love to my beta, CappuccettoRosso.

Shin watched Yamaguchi walk away from Shirokin, thinking about how little effort she put into hiding her home.  Hell, anyone could follow her home and see…

_Shit._ Shin broke into a run, taking a route that would intersect Yamaguchi’s about halfway to her house.  Assuming she kept walking, he should be able to get there before her.

Luck was with him – as he peeked around the corner of the intersection, he saw Yamaguchi heading his way.  Pulling his head back, he ducked into a doorway and waited for her to pass.

Unfortunately, Miura was following a lot closer than Shin had expected.  If Kyou hadn’t suddenly shown up – though it _was_ his territory, after all, so his presence wasn’t exactly odd – Shin may not have been able to get into position without being seen.

Kyou hassled Miura for a few seconds before spotting Yamaguchi and started shouting a greeting and waving.  Shin gave himself a second to slap his palm to his face before stepping in front of Miura, blocking his view of the woman who had caught Kyou’s attention.

Miura gasped and Shin felt a spark of satisfaction.  Maybe there was something to this whole “dramatic entrance” thing after all.  “What’re you doing here?” Shin asked.  “Because it looks like you’re stalking Yamaguchi.”  Miura didn’t answer, which irked Shin.  “You want to investigate her to report back to the chairman, don’t you?” he accused.  “Pathetic.”

Miura smirked and Shin felt an uneasy twist in his gut.  “You again,” Miura said.  “Sawada Shin.”  He put his hands in his pockets, looking the epitome of casual nonchalance.  “How interesting that you walked this far to protect her.  You must think very highly of Yamaguchi-sensei.  Maybe you want to be her knight in shining armor?”

Shin clenched his hands into fists.  “Shut up.”

Miura took off his glasses.  “Oh, I like it when you glare at me like that.”  Suddenly he stepped forward, right into Shin’s personal space, his hand coming up to caress Shin’s jaw.  “Let me tell you a secret.  I’m actually far more interested in you.”

Then he _licked Shin’s cheek_.

Shin punched him and jumped back.  “Don’t touch me, you pervert!” he shouted, then took off running.  He’d done what he could for Yamaguchi.  Time to get out of here before things got even weirder.

~~~

That night, he took an extra long shower, scrubbing his cheek until it felt raw, then spent his time in the tub with his knees curled up to his chest.

It took him a long time to fall asleep.

~~~

Shin wasn’t surprised in the least that Yamaguchi had them running laps in punishment for locking her in the file room.  It wasn’t particularly fair that _he_ got stuck running laps, seeing as he was locked in with her, but he didn’t complain.  He was running almost every day now and this way he could skip his usual evening workout.

It also gave him a good excuse to avoid his friends, who were going to be former friends if they ever pulled a stunt like that again.

By the end of his thirty laps, he was almost feeling human again.  That feeling lasted all of five minutes, before he found himself groping for a towel at the sink and ended up drying his face with Miura’s shirt.

He ran away, but it wasn’t like he could avoid the man entirely.  All day he could feel creepy, perverted eyes on him as he went about his usual business and he found himself forgiving his friends a lot sooner than he planned, simply to ensure that he was always surrounded by a crowd.

By the time he left for the day, he was exhausted.  More than anything, he wanted to drop into bed and get some sleep, but that wasn’t going to solve the problem.  This creep was after Yamaguchi, and if Shin didn’t do something about it, Miura would win.

With that in mind, Shin spent the evening making up a plan.  Obviously the easiest plan – telling the principal that Miura was hitting on him – wasn’t viable.  For one thing, it was unlikely anyone would believe him.  Even if they did, the best case scenario was to create a paper trail of complaints, and that didn’t help in the short term.  Worst case scenario, they took Shin completely seriously and started an investigation into all of the teachers at Shirokin.  No way Yamaguchi would survive that kind of scrutiny.

Actually, now that Shin thought about it, the _true_ worst case scenario was Yamaguchi finding out.  That would most likely result in a prison sentence for murder.

Besides, Shin realized after an hour of looking at the problem from different angles, as long as Miura’s attention was focused on Shin, it wasn’t focused on Yamaguchi.  To change that now would be to throw her under the bus.

That realization gave his plan direction: his role was to be Miura’s distraction.  That said, he wasn’t going to be a martyr, so he needed to find ways to protect himself.  In school that would be easy – just stay in his group of friends.  Outside of school it was harder, especially since Shin’s address was on file and Miura, as a teacher, would have access to it.  He did have one unexpected element on his side, though: the Kuroda family dog – a huge beast with a bizarrely braided tail – had latched on to Shin for some reason and showed up randomly at Shin’s apartment.  That was a layer of protection.  Of course, it wasn’t full-time protection, so Shin would have to start getting a lot more careful about changing up his routine and about checking the peephole if anyone showed up at his door.

The one thing he _couldn’t_ do was to chase Miura away.  Well, obviously he could if he chose to: Miura was a wimp and Shin didn’t think he’d keep hanging around if Shin was beating him up on a regular basis.  But Shin would have to restrain himself.

For Yamaguchi, it would be worth it.

~~~

Now that Shin had a plan – and a purpose – it turned out to be a lot easier to deal with Miura than he’d imagined.  Deciding that it was his choice, _not_ Miura’s, for this charade to continue helped Shin stay calm and unruffled and over time he got inured to Miura’s creepy looks.

As a bonus, the more Shin ignored Miura, the more irritated Miura seemed to be.

Besides, Shin had other things going on in his life.  Yamaguchi went through another weird phase, this time involving a lot of sobbing and syrupy advice regarding fathers.  It got pretty unbearable before she suddenly ran in one day shouting “good morning” and hopped on Kuma’s back for a piggy-back ride.

“Um,” Ucchi said.  “What’s going on?  Yesterday you were wailing about fathers.”

She turned her face away from him.  “Don’t bring that up again.  I’ve given up on it.  Sorry for making you worry.”

“We weren’t worried,” Ucchi said, offended.

Yamaguchi jumped off Kuma’s back to try and ruffle Ucchi’s hair and a small slap-fight ensued.

The arrival of Fujiyama broke up the fun.  “Good morning,” Fujiyama said stiffly as she walked right through the group, pushing people aside in the process.

“Ah, morning, Fujiyama-sensei,” Yamaguchi said.  “Everything okay?”

Looking straight ahead, Fujiyama whispered, “Can you subtly check to see if anyone’s following me?”

Everyone except for Shin immediately jumped around to openly stare at the space behind Fujiyama.  Shin, who had casually glanced over his shoulder, sighed.  Fujiyama snapped at everyone else, “Didn’t I tell you to be subtle?”

“I don’t see anyone,” Yamaguchi said.  “What’s going on?”

Fujiyama sighed.  “I think I have a stalker.”

“What?” Yamaguchi yelled, looking like she was ready to go off to war, despite lacking an actual enemy.

“It might just be paranoia,” Fujiyama said quickly.  “But I’ve been feeling like someone’s watching me.”

Shin could totally empathize.

“Also, I’ve been getting creepy calls in the middle of the night,” Fujiyama added.  “Heavy breathing, you know.  And the underwear I had drying on my balcony was stolen.”

“Those aren’t good signs,” Yamaguchi said.

“Yeah,” Fujiyama answered.  “Put them all together and I’ve been feeling really nervous.”

“Shouldn’t you go to the police?” Kuma asked.

“After all, the world is full of strange people,” Inuzuka said, popping out of nowhere.

Ucchi recoiled.  “Like you!”

Yamaguchi didn’t seem to notice this byplay.  “All the police will do is take a report.”  She turned to Fujiyama.  “Let me take care of this.  I hate stalkers.”

As they walked inside, Kuma asked, “So what’s the plan, Yankumi?”

“To catch the stalker, of course.”

“If you don’t know who he is, how are you going to catch him?” Kuma asked.

Noda promptly started listing off all the places that might have a hidden stalker: convenience stores, neighborhood locations, apartment buildings, streets, sidewalks…

“Why the hell do you know so much about stalking?” Minami snapped.

“Are _you_ a stalker?” Ucchi added.

“Shut up,” Noda growled.

“He does have a point, though,” Yamaguchi said.  “We have to find the stalker first and the only way to do that is to keep an eye on Fujiyama-sensei.”

“Right,” Minami said.

“Good luck!” Ucchi offered.

Everyone tried to hurry away.  Shin raised his eyebrows and turned to leisurely follow.

Unsurprisingly, they didn’t get very far.  “Let me rephrase that,” Yamaguchi said, running in front of them and planting herself in their path.  “Let’s _all_ keep an eye on Fujiyama-sensei.”

“You mean us,” Noda sighed.

There was some general grumbling.

“Do you have a plan?” Shin asked.

Yamaguchi considered.  “We should start by splitting into three groups and following Fujiyama-sensei home.”

“Three groups?” Minami asked.

“There’s six of us,” Ucchi said thoughtfully.

“So two people to a group,” Noda said.

Minami grabbed a confused-looking Kuma in a hug and Ucchi and Noda embraced.  “Let’s split this way!”

Shin swallowed a groan.

“Um, okay,” Yamaguchi said.  “But you guys are acting really weird.”

“But you know,” Ucchi said, pointing between Shin and Yamaguchi.  “You two really don’t look like a couple.”

_That’s enough of that bullshit,_ Shin thought, and grabbed Ucchi by the collar.  Dragging him to side of the hallway, he hissed, “ _Stop it_.”

“What?” Ucchi said.  “We’re just trying to help.”

“ _Stop trying to help!_ ” Shin snapped, trying to keep his voice low, despite wanting to shout.  “She’s going to figure it out!”

“…isn’t that the point?” Ucchi asked.

Shin gave up.

He turned back to find Noda running home for some reason and the male chorus club begging to join Fujiyama’s protection detail.  Shin looked them over with raised eyebrows, but didn’t join his friends in protesting the club’s inclusion.  Yamaguchi was clearly charmed by their pleas and Shin had learned when to pick his battles.

After school that day, Yamaguchi wandered off with Noda while the rest of the gang stayed in the classroom.  “Where are they going?” Shin asked.

“Yankumi’s clothes had the school logo on them,” Minami said.  “Noda went home to get some of his sister’s clothes for her to wear.”

Shin wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he kept his mouth shut and entertained himself by balancing his chair on two legs.

Noda poked his head in the door.  “Drumroll, please!  Yankumi’s done changing!”

Yamaguchi stepped into the classroom, dressed in a schoolgirl’s uniform.

Shin lost his balance and fell to the floor.

The other guys didn’t even seem to notice – they were too busy flipping out over Yamaguchi’s outfit.  Shin pulled himself to his feet, sending brief glances at Yamaguchi in the process.  He wasn’t quite able to look at her head on just yet.  The sight of her in a skirt…

“Okay,” Ucchi said brightly.  “Now you’ll look like a couple!  Just be sure to hold hands while walking, okay?”

“Okay,” Yamaguchi said, sounding baffled.

Shin growled and whacked Ucchi on the head while Yamaguchi was distracted by the arrival of one of the chorus club members.  “Fujiyama-sensei’s going home!” he announced in his high-pitched voice before scurrying away.

“Okay!” Yamaguchi said, suddenly all business.  “Listen up, guys!  If you see anyone suspicious, keep cool and report it to me.”

Reaching down, she grabbed Shin’s hand and dragged him toward the door.

Shin stumbled along behind her, his heart suddenly racing like a hummingbird’s.  _It doesn’t mean anything_ , he told himself firmly.  _She’s just weird sometimes._

Totally true and entirely unhelpful.  Slightly more helpful was Yamaguchi’s expression: determined and laser-focused on the mission.  Shin wasn’t sure if she even remembered she was holding Shin’s hand.

Not that Shin was able to forget it.  Her hand, so strong when she was fighting, felt slender and warm in Shin’s own.  Her fingers seemed positively fragile, despite the fact that Shin knew they were strong enough to hold up a boy who was dangling over the side of a building.

Yamaguchi was a contradiction.  Such a small woman, concealing so much strength.  She may not have been conventionally pretty, but her conviction and fire were more attractive to Shin than a vapid teenage model could ever be.

Shit.  Now was not the time to be thinking about Yamaguchi’s attractiveness.  Not when he was holding her hand.  Not when she was wearing that short schoolgirl skirt.  Not when he could see those _legs_ – whatever Yamaguchi did to keep in shape, it made her legs look amazing.

Shin gulped as he felt his pants getting a little tighter.  _Not now,_ he told himself firmly and looked about for a distraction.

The most obvious distraction was the parade of students surrounding Fujiyama.  Shin frowned.  “You know, I don’t think anyone would get close to Fujiyama with all of us around, much less a stalker.”

At that moment, one of the chorus boys collapsed under the stress of the situation.  Yamaguchi sighed.  “Yeah, letting the chorus help was a mistake.”

Shin didn’t think removing the chorus boys would make that much of a difference in the parade, but kept his mouth shut.

Two blocks from Shirokin, Fujiyama turned and smiled.  “Thank you everyone.”

Everyone stared back.  “Wait,” Noda said.  “You live here?”

She nodded.  “I’ll wave from my apartment to let you know that I got in okay.”

While they waited, Yamaguchi let go of Shin’s hand to cross her arms.  He let out a surreptitious sigh of relief and rubbed his hand against his pants.  His palm felt like it was tingling.

“We’ll have to stay further away tomorrow,” Yamaguchi said.

“What?” Ucchi yelped.  “We have to do this again tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Yamaguchi answered, sounding indignant.  “We’ll follow her until we catch the stalker.”

Shin, who had his attention locked on the apartment building to avoid looking at Yamaguchi – who damn well better not be wearing that skirt tomorrow – spotted Fujiyama waving from her balcony.  “Fujiyama’s waving.”

Everyone turned to the building.  “Where?” Minami asked.

“Third floor balcony,” Shin said, nodding in the appropriate direction.  “Far left.”

“Okay,” Yamaguchi said, nodding sharply.  “Time to go.  Don’t forget to meet up in the classroom after school tomorrow.”

There was some more grumbling, but Shin noticed that everyone stayed together as Yamaguchi headed back to the school.  Whether they’d admit it or not, they were enjoying themselves.

Shin’s emotions were a little too complicated to put into words as simple as “enjoyment”, but he did register a nagging feeling like he was missing something important.  He frowned and let his mind wander, hoping the answer would come to him.

Ucchi, the asshole, wandered up to Yamaguchi and said, “Hey, why don’t you wear this outfit to school tomorrow?  It looks better than a tracksuit.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Yamaguchi said.  “They’d fire me.”

“I don’t know,” Noda said.  “I think the principal would be happy.”

“Iwamoto, too!” Ucchi offered.

Suddenly, Shin’s wandering mind made a connection.  “Hey, Yamaguchi.  Fujiyama said that her underwear was stolen from her balcony, right?  But she lives on the third floor.  How would a stalker get up there?”

Yamaguchi’s face went white.  “Oh, shit.”

“Maybe he got there from the balcony next door?” Noda offered.

“Or through the airducts,” Shin suggested.

“The details don’t matter,” Yamaguchi snapped.  “What matters is that her stalker _lives in her apartment building_.”  She turned on her heel and sprinted toward the building.  Everyone followed.

They were only half a block from the building, so even the chorus boys were able to keep up.  Fortunately there was an elevator – Shin didn’t think the twee sopranos would have survived the stairs.

The first warning sign came when they rang Fujiyama’s doorbell and no one answered.

“Damn it,” Yamaguchi said.  “She should be home.”

“Hey, Fujiyama!” Minami shouted.  “Open up!”

Everyone waited with baited breath.  A few seconds passed before the door creaked open.  Fujiyama peeked out, though she didn’t release the door chain.

“Fujiyama-sensei!” Yamaguchi said.  “Thank goodness you’re home!  We were worried.”

“S-sorry,” Fujiyama said, her voice high and tight.  “Now’s not a good time.  Can we talk tomorrow?”

Yamaguchi frowned.  “What’s wrong?”

Fujiyama was suddenly jerked from view and a man’s hand reached out to slam the door shut.  A second later, they heard the door lock.

“Holy shit!” Minami said.  “He’s inside!”

“He must be threatening her with a knife!” Noda exclaimed.

“What do we do?” Ucchi shouted.

The chorus boys wailed.

Shin was starting to get a headache.

Yamaguchi suddenly radiated a commanding aura.  “We need a bolt cutter!” she shouted.  “Bring me a big bolt cutter!”

Everyone looked at her blankly.  Shin sighed, but was grateful for the quiet.

“Um… what would we do with a bolt cutter?” Ucchi asked.

“More importantly, where would we find a bolt cutter?” Shin pointed out.

Yamaguchi deflated for a moment before straightening up again.  “Then we’ll kick down the door.”

“Uh, no,” Shin said, thinking about the difference between television and real life deadbolts.  “I have an idea.”

He moved one door down from Fujiyama’s apartment and rang the doorbell.  Behind him, he could hear the guys trying to figure out Shin’s plan, but Shin kept his attention forward.  The apartment door opened and an exceptionally average woman stood in the doorway holding an exceptionally average child.  “What is it?” she asked.

Shin let his eyes go limpid.  “I’m so sorry for interrupting you, but my sister, Fujiyama, lives next door.  She’s been acting strangely and I think she might be sick.  Could I use your balcony to get to hers?”

As expected, the woman opened the door to let him in.  Shin stifled a smile.  Women other than Yamaguchi were so easy.

Minami and Ucchi ran right past Shin, startling the woman.  “Sorry,” Shin said, only to get shoved back again by Yamaguchi.

By the time Shin actually made it to the balcony, Yamaguchi had already jumped across.  Not giving himself any time to think about the three story fall, Shin climbed up to the balcony railing and jumped as well.

He barely made it.  _Shit_ , he thought as he stumbled to his feet, his heart pounding like a jackhammer.  _That was REALLY stupid._

Behind him, he could hear the other boys preventing Kuma from jumping.  _Thank God for that_ , Shin thought.  The idea of Kuma falling to his death made Shin feel a little queasy.

Turning his attention to the balcony door, Shin saw Yamaguchi on all fours, peeking through a crack in the curtains.  Shin swallowed hard.  Inappropriate as his timing was, he couldn’t _not_ notice how much of Yamaguchi’s thighs he could see when she was in that position.

Dragging his eyes away from Yamaguchi, he peeked into the window.  A fat, sweaty guy was standing over Fujiyama.  She was half naked, tied up, and had tape over her mouth.  “Shit,” Shin breathed.  He’d seen some serious stuff in the last year, but nothing like this.

“I _hate_ stalkers,” Yamaguchi muttered, easing to her feet.  She didn’t seem at all surprised that Shin was behind her, despite the fact that she hadn’t looked back once.  In retrospect, it was kind of odd that a woman with such amazing situational awareness skills could get locked in a closet by a bunch of high school students.  Just went to show how much she trusted them.

And not the issue at hand.  “Look,” Shin said quietly.  “He’s trying to force her to sign a marriage certificate.”

“What a pervert,” Yamaguchi said, her voice rising above a whisper.  “I won’t forgive him!  I’m going to kick in the window!”

Shin shushed her urgently.  “Calm down!  He’s got a knife.  If we’re not careful, Fujiyama could get hurt.  We need to get him away from her.”

Yamaguchi just growled.

Shin sighed and turned to the other balcony.  “Hey!” he called out to his friends.  “Go back to the door and make a lot of noise.”

They agreed and hurried back inside.

Shin picked up a potted plant from the corner of the balcony and handed it to Yamaguchi.  “Here.  After he leaves Fujiyama, throw this through the window and I’ll run inside.”

Yamaguchi took the plant, but frowned.  “Shouldn’t I be the one to run inside?”

Later, Shin would blame what he said next on Yamaguchi’s thighs.  Clearly they’d addled his brain.  “You’re a girl.  What happens if the glass cuts your face?”

Yamaguchi lifted her eyebrows and chucked the pot at Shin.  He barely caught it in time.  “What are you doing?” he hissed.

“Sawada,” Yamaguchi said in the most unimpressed voice he’d ever heard her use.  “Don’t talk big.  You’re a kid.  You want to act macho in front of me, come back in a hundred years.  _Maybe_ you’ll be strong enough then.”

Shin’s cheeks burned.  “Fine.”  The rush of indignation quickly passed, leaving a pit of depression in his stomach.  After all, she _was_ stronger than he was.  _Vastly_ stronger.  “I understand,” he added glumly.

Yamaguchi didn’t seem to notice, her entire attention focused on the door.  The soundproofing was good – thankfully; otherwise the stalker would have heard Yamaguchi earlier – so they couldn’t hear what the guys were doing in the hallway.  Clearly they were making some sort of noise, though, as the stalker looked irritated and left the room.

“An opening!” Yamaguchi said.  “Throw the pot!”

Shin hurled the pot as hard as he could towards the door.  Yamaguchi was already running when the glass broke, her arms held up high in front of her to protect her face.  Or, more likely, Shin thought, to protect her eyes.  Thinking about Yamaguchi’s family, she might very well consider facial scars to be a badge of honor.

The stalker came running back into the room, knife in hand.  “Who the fuck are you?” he shouted.  “You’re trespassing!”

“You’re the trespasser here!” Yamaguchi retorted, and kicked the knife from the stalker’s hand.

Fujiyama let out a sound of surprise that was audible even through her gag.

Yamaguchi glanced at her and froze, mid-punch.  “Uh…”

Shin muffled a groan of exasperation.

“Oh, how scary!” Yamaguchi said in an irritating girly voice.  “Sawada!  Help me defeat him!”

She grabbed the stalker by the arm and hurled him toward Shin.  Shin barely had a chance to get a fist up in time, but it hardly mattered.  With the force behind that throw, the stalker could have run into a toddler and gotten knocked out.

The stalker safely unconscious, Yamaguchi kept up the girly act for Fujiyama’s benefit, sidling up to Shin and gushing, “Oh, Sawada!  How amazing!  You’re so strong!”

She undoubtedly meant it as teasing, or maybe just to keep her cover, but after what she said on the balcony, Shin felt every word like a knife to the chest.  “Shut up,” he muttered and stalked off.

Later, he heard that Fujiyama kicked the shit out of the stalker.  _Good for her_ , he thought, and wished he’d thought to do the same.  It might’ve helped relieve some of his frustration at his infuriating, wonderful, exasperating teacher.

~~~

After the whole Fujiyama fiasco, Shin was all set to avoid Yamaguchi as much as his father’s attendance restrictions allowed.  That plan was derailed only a week later when Shin got home to find the Kuroda dog at his front door, sitting right next to his standard gift: a massive pile of feces.

“I’m _not_ dealing with you today,” Shin said and went inside to grab the leash he’d bought the second time the dog showed up at his house.  “You’re going home.”

Of course, it was easier said than done, since the damn dog apparently didn’t _want_ to go home, so Shin had to drag him all the way to Kamiyama, enduring suspicious looks from other pedestrians the entire time.

As he dragged the dog up to the Kuroda’s public foyer, he heard a lot of men talking.  “Huh.”  He poked his head inside.  “Hello?  Is anyone…”  He voice trailed off as he registered what was inside the room.  “What the hell!”

The room was full of guys wearing loincloths _and_ _nothing else_.

The guy closest to the door – a huge man with blond hair and a tattoo covering him from neck to (unfortunately clearly visible) ass – turned around.  It was Kyou.

“Red Li—er, Shin-chan.  What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”  Shin shook his head, forcing himself to stop staring at all of the naked flesh on display.  “Your dog ended up at my house again.”

Kyou burst out laughing.  “Looks like you got a fan in Fuji!”

“Please stop laughing,” Shin said flatly as Tetsu came over and took the dog.  Shin tried to look casual about seeing that much of the man mountain.  “So, uh… looks like there’s a festival today.  Are you all going to participate?”

“Of course!” Kyou said, slipping on a happi.  Shin swallowed.  On the one hand, he was grateful to no longer have to look at Kyou’s nipples.  On the other hand, the vest only went to Kyou’s waist.

Kyou tied the bottom of his happi so that the knot rested halfway up his stomach, just to the top edge of his fundoshi.  Then, apparently full dressed, he added, “The Kamiyama Shrine’s ball catching contest is the man’s contest!  They couldn’t hold it without the Kuroda family’s participation.”

Wakamatsu appeared out of nowhere, making Shin start.  “The festival’s been going on and off for over six hundred years.  Ever since the Kuroda group has existed, we have participated in the contest.”

“Huh,” Shin said faintly.  It occurred to him that this meant Yamaguchi was probably around here.  He wasn’t sure where they currently stood on the whole “stay out of yakuza business” issue, but he was still a little pissed about the whole Fujiyama balcony scene and decided he wasn’t in the mood to press his luck.  “I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” Kyou said.  “You just got here!  You should participate.”  He held up a strip of cloth.  “I have a spare fundoshi!”

Shin eyed the cloth askance.  “No thanks.”

“Don’t be polite,” Kyou protested.  Shin suspected that that was Kyou’s personal mantra.  “It’s fun!”

Shin shook his head.  “I’m not brave enough to put on a fundoshi.”

“That’s because you’re still too green,” Kyou said.  “You need experience.”  He grabbed Shin by the shoulders.  “Come on, I want to show you something good.”

Coming from Kyou, those words _never_ meant anything good.  Unfortunately, with Kyou’s arm holding him in place, Shin couldn’t escape and thus found himself dragged to a small cabinet.  Kyou dug through the contents for a moment before pulling out a picture and handing it over.  Shin flinched at the sight of it.  It was a crude, childish drawing of a bunch of corpses wearing fundoshi.

“That’s creepy,” Shin said.

“Ojou drew this in second grade,” Kyou said proudly.  “It’s a picture of men.”

“That doesn’t make it any less creepy!  What kind of second grader draws this?”

Kyou took the picture back and looked at it fondly.  “You have to understand to Ojou, men must wear fundoshi.  Unless you’ve worn a fundoshi, you can’t be considered an independent man.  To Ojou, this is how you increase your manliness.”

Shin sighed.  “I don’t know.  Last time I tried to be strong, she said that if I wanted to act all macho, I’d need a hundred years before I was ready.”

Kyou burst out laughing.  “That sounds like Ojou.  But—,” he held out the loincloth, “this fundoshi can shorten a hundred years into five.”

“Right,” Shin said skeptically.

A familiar voice cut through the conversation.  “Kyou-san, have you seen my happi?”

Shin looked over to see Shinohara standing there, wearing a fundoshi.  “Oh,” Shinohara said.  “I remember you.”

“You’re participating in this?” Shin asked, incredulously.

“How can you even ask?” Kyou said, grabbing Shinohara by the shoulders.  “They call him the ‘festival lawyer’!”

“No one calls me that,” Shinohara said dryly.  “But they do say that anyone in the family who doesn’t participate in the festival isn’t really a man.”

Kyou came over and whapped Shin on the face with the spare fundoshi.  “Whatta ya say?”

Shin growled and snatched the cloth from Kyou’s hand.  “Where can I put my clothes?”

Kyou grinned like the devil he was.

While Shin had seen men put fundoshi on before, his family had been a lot more westernized than the Kuroda family and Shin had never worn fundoshi himself.  When Kyou stepped in to help, Shin thought about protesting.  After a second, he decided he’d passed the point of no return when he’d taken off his clothes and opted to endure.  It was embarrassing, but at least he knew the loincloth wouldn’t fall off while Shin participated in this ball catching festival.

“You look good,” Kyou said once Shin was dressed up in the fundoshi, with a second length of cloth providing torso wrapping.  “A little skinny, but you’ve got some muscle definition there.”

Shin grimaced, but was secretly glad to know that his exercise was paying off.

“Doesn’t it feel reassuring to have fundoshi close to your skin?”

“Uh, no,” Shin said flatly.  “Not even a little.”

The door opened and Shin stopped breathing as he saw Kuroda and _Yamaguchi_ at the door.

_Oh shit!_ he thought.  _What was I thinking?_

Kuroda said something about leaving, but Shin’s entire focus was on Yamaguchi, who exclaimed, “Sawada?”

_SHIT!  What am I doing here?  I shouldn’t’ve done something this stupid.  This is ridiculous!  What was I thinking?_

Suddenly he realized that the room had fallen silent.  He managed to drag his attention out of his thoughts and stared at Yamaguchi, only to realize that she was staring back.

And she kept staring.

And staring.

And staring.

He was starting to get uncomfortable with all of this staring.  “Hey!”

She started slightly.  “Oh.  Uh.  Looks pretty good on you.”

She turned and walked out.

Shin stared after her.

“Ha!” Kyou said.  “Considering the look on her face, I think you gained ninety-nine of those hundred years!”

“Really?” Shin said, looking down at the white cloth wrapped around his torso.  “Just because of the fundoshi?”

Kyou nudged Shin in the side.  “Told you.”  He turned to the rest of the room.  “Brothers!  Time to go!”

Shin hastily grabbed a happi and pulled it on before walking out next to Shinohara, who was the least terrifying person in the room.

Outside there was a crowd lining the road to the shrine.  In front of the door was a portable shrine in the form of a massive chair strapped to a pair of poles.  It looked like someone was going to get carried to their destination.

That someone quickly proved to be Kyou.  Shin shook his head, but he should’ve guessed.  At least he was one of a dozen guys lifting the chair.  It wasn’t as horribly heavy as it could’ve been.

Then women started throwing buckets of water at the group.  Presumably this was to replace the rejuvenation ritual that would normally take place in a lake, but Shin couldn’t help but notice that a lot more water seemed to be falling on him than on the guy in front of him.  He also learned it was a lot harder to keep a good grip on the pole when both you and the pole were soaking wet.  By the time they reached the stairs to the temple gate, Shin was drenched and desperately grateful to put down the chair.  He glanced around at the other guys and saw that most of them were completely dry, though Shinohara was as wet as Shin.

_Great_ , Shin thought, regretting this fiasco all over again.  Apparently his job today was to get ogled at by all of the old ladies in the neighborhood.

Then he thought back to Yamaguchi staring at him.  Admittedly, she was socially dense enough that she may not have even realized that she’d been staring, but the staring had meant _something_.  Shin was sure of it.  And for _something_ , well… he’d count this day as a win.  Even if he _was_ soaked to the skin.

The priest waved the haraegushi and the crowd quieted so that the rustling of the paper hanging from the wand could be heard.

“And now we shall begin the ball catching contest,” the priest intoned.

“You know, that really doesn’t sound like anything good,” Shin said to the guy next to him, which happened to be Tetsu.  “Are there any other activities?”

“You don’t understand, Shin-chan,” Tetsu said.  “The ball catching contest is the most important part of the festival.”

Minoru stepped up on Shin’s other side.  “Everyone takes off their clothes and tries to grab the golden ball hanging off the sacred tree.”

_Of course everyone’s naked_ , Shin thought.  With the number of women around, he hoped they’d at least get to keep on the fundoshi.  Out loud, he limited himself to asking: “Golden ball?”

“It’s up there,” Minoru said, pointing to the top of the stairs.  “The ball is hanging between two trees, with a ladder underneath.”

Kyou appeared and Minoru obligingly stepped away.  “The man who grabs the golden ball is the Golden Man for the rest of the year.”

Shin looked at him askance.  “It sounds like a track competition.”

“It’s not just enough to run fast!” Kyou snapped.  “You gotta hold back your opponents.  Pull them down!  Knock them out!  This is an all-out battle!  Every year, a bunch of people get hurt.”

“So… this is a festival made just for you?”

Kyou grinned.  “Yeah.  Before I went into the joint, I won for eleven years straight.  The priest said too many people were getting hurt, though, so I wasn’t allowed to enter this year.”  He turned to look at Shin head-on, gripping his shoulder.  “This means you have a chance to win!”

Shin looked around at all of the yakuza members who were stripping off their happi and screaming trash talk at each other as they worked themselves up into a frenzy.  “You know, I’m not from around here…”

“Ojou says that the one who wins is the manliest of men,” Kyou cut in.  “And last year’s winner was the lawyer.”

Shin was being manipulated.  He _knew_ he was being manipulated.  Somehow that didn’t matter.  He still ended up lined up with all of the other yakuza, holding his breath and waiting for the priest to start the race.

As the haraegushi dropped, Shin bolted forward.  The one thing he had over all of the other guys present was that he was younger, lighter, and had spent the last few months training to be able to keep up with Yamaguchi.  He was the first to the top of the stairs with a lead of several feet and as he started climbing up the ladder, he thought this might actually be easy.

Then a hand grabbed the back of his fundoshi and jerked him to the ground.  Shin looked up in indignation to see Tetsu was the guy who’d grabbed him.  Damn.  The guy was fast for his size.

Shin scrambled to his feet and headed for the ladder again, only to get sucker punched in the jaw.  “What the hell?” he murmured as he looked around to see that everyone was brawling.

Everyone except Shinohara.  The lawyer was clambering up the ladder with no one to stop him.  “No way!” Shin shouted, and he jumped up and pulled Shinohara down.

To his embarrassment, the crowd of women immediately went wild with cheering.  Shin didn’t let that stop him, though, just focused on keeping Shinohara away from the ball.

Suddenly the crowd went completely silent and Shin paused.  He looked over to the ladder to see that a weird-looking guy in his twenties had the ball in hand.

“I got it!” Weird Guy shouted.

The silence continued, except for one woman who asked, “Who’s he?”

“That’s Gai!” an old guy in the crowd answered.  “He works for me part time in the bakery.”

Gai slid down the ladder and did a victory dance.  The ladies in the crowd groaned and tossed their empty water buckets at him.  Gai looked crushed, but not nearly as crushed as the priest, who flopped to the ground in dismay.  “Ah, I should have let Kyou join in…” the priest sighed.  “But since it’s you, I guess you get the prize.”

Gai took the prize and slunk off.  Shin felt kind of sorry for him, but was quickly distracted by Shinohara pulling him to his feet.  “Not bad,” Shinohara said.  “I look forward to a rematch next year.”

Shin nodded and turned away, only to be confronted by a bunch of hot and sweaty guys wearing nothing but fundoshi hugging and consoling each other on not winning.  Shin tried to make a hasty exit, but got dragged into several sweaty embraces.

Finally, he sighed and stopped fighting.  Sometimes you just had to go with the tide.

Besides, there was _no way_ Yamaguchi could tell him to stay away from her other life after this!

~~~

By Monday, Shin had recovered from both the scene on Fujiyama’s balcony, and the festival fiasco.  If he were a different sort of guy and Yamaguchi a different sort of woman, Shin might’ve drawn some hope about what happened at the festival, but Yamaguchi was denser than lead when it came to social interaction and Shin wasn’t blind to the fact that he wasn’t boyfriend material for her.  Not yet, anyway, and maybe not ever.

All of which meant things were back to status quo when Shin got a note from Miura to come to the principal’s office at the lunch break.  Shin sighed at the note, but reminded himself that he was Miura’s distraction away from Yamaguchi.  Besides, Miura had been suspiciously quiet of late; it’d be good to find out the details of his latest plot.

He arrived in the office to find Miura draped over the couch, but the moment Shin stepped through the door, Miura got up and moved closer.

Shin stepped to the side, closer to the desk.  He wasn’t about to get within touching distance of Miura if he could help it.

“Don’t be so distant,” Miura said.  “I just wanted to share a picture with you.”

He pulled a photograph out of his shirt pocket and held it up for Shin to see.  It was the butts of three men wearing fundoshi.

Shin felt a sense of foreboding – the coincidence was too much to be ignored.

“I wanted to talk with you about what I should do with this picture,” Miura said.  “I think it might look good on the school bulletin boards.”

“Pervert,” Shin said.  Even if one of those butts was his, the only person Miura would incriminate by sharing that picture was himself.  “Post it wherever you want.”

Miura looked confused and flipped the photo over so he could see it.  “Crap!” he said.  “That was the wrong one.  Wait!  I meant this picture!”

Shin stopped, halfway out the door, and looked back.  The new picture was of Yamaguchi, with a shirtless Wakamatsu – full tattoos on display – on one side and Tetsu on the other.  Shit.

Miura was smirking now.  “After a little investigation, I found out who ‘Ojou’ was.  I was surprised, really.  Who would’ve guessed that Yamaguchi-sensei was the heir to a yakuza family?  I’m sure the chairman would be very happy to hear this.  It would get rid of that thorn in his side.”

Shin stared at him, his mind working furiously.  He fought to keep his voice level as he asked, “So what do you want me to do?”

“Such a good child you are,” Miura said silkily.  “I want to make a deal.”

“I don’t have any money,” Shin said flatly.

“That’s okay.  You can pay with your body.”

Shin jumped back.

“First, you can clean my room,” Miura said.

_Riiiight_ , Shin thought.

“And then my bedroom, of course, and my bathroom.”

This was definitely getting out of hand.  “Stop joking around,” Shin said, turning to leave.  He needed time to figure out a strategy.  “I don’t have time to waste on this.”

“I’ll be here after school is out,” Miura said.  “If you don’t come, I’ll be going to the chairman with my picture.”

Shin slammed the door on his way out.

~~~

The problem was, Shin couldn’t think of anything that would solve everything.  He could turn Miura in for creeping on the students, but while that would keep him safe, Miura would undoubtedly post the picture and Yamaguchi would be screwed.  If he went to see Miura after school, Yamaguchi was safe, but Shin would _definitely_ be screwed.  Killing Miura might do the trick, but Shin didn’t think he had it in him.  Even if he did, Shin wasn’t aspiring to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Shin paused in his line of thought.  Killing Miura was obviously out, but at one point Shin had considered that he could beat Miura up to drive him away, if necessary.  The idea of beating up a wimp like Miura wasn’t exactly something to be proud off – Yamaguchi would definitely not approve – but times were getting a bit desperate and so was Shin.  If Miura went to the police, Shin could say with complete honesty that Miura was showing Shin dirty pictures and trying to coerce Shin into sex.  Between Miura’s general sliminess and Shin’s ability to talk himself out of trouble, Shin thought he could make it work.

At any rate, it was the only idea he had so, after rushing through class cleanup, Shin stopped into the bathroom to splash some water on his face and psych himself up.  He managed to reach an enthusiasm level of “resigned acceptance”, decided that that was the best he was going to do, and set off for the principal’s office.

Halfway there, he heard a sing-song voice call out, “Sawada!”

Shin frowned and looked over to the stairs.  “Yamaguchi?  Inuzuka?”

“Where’re you headed?” Yamaguchi asked.  “I thought you went home.”

Shin frowned.  “Why do you want to know?”

She sighed, stood up, and came to stand in front of him.  “Do you want to become that goddamn spy’s X?”

Shin stared at her.  “…X?”

“The guy who plays the part of the woman in a homosexual relationship,” Inuzuka said.  “You gotta know that in the joint.”

Shin stared at him.  He usually managed to forget that Inuzuka was connected to the yakuza.  “Oh.”  Suddenly he had a mental image of lying under Miura and he grimaced.  “Ugh.  No.”

“Then what are you doing right now?” Yamaguchi asked.

“I’m going to clear things up with him,” Shin said neutrally.  “Otherwise he’s going to go to the chairman.”

“That’s my problem, not yours.”

He tilted his head.  “Actually, it’s my problem.  I was the one who chose to participate in the festival.”

“That was _not_ something you needed to worry about!” Yamaguchi snapped.  “And you should mind your own Goddamn business!”

Shin swallowed past a suddenly tight throat.  “Well excuse me for trying to help—”

“How can I sacrifice you and call myself a teacher?” she shouted.

Shin swallowed again.  His throat was still thick, but for an entirely different reason.

“Honestly,” Yamaguchi said, more calmly.  “Every time you have a problem you have to fix it yourself.”  Her lips quirked.  “Reminds me of me.”

Shin pressed his lips together to stop himself from smiling.  “I’m nothing like you.”

“Uh-huh.  In any case,” the humor dropped off of her face, “we need a plan to take care of that slimy pervert.  I was going to kick his ass but…”  She looked thoughtfully at Inuzuka.  “…I think I have a better plan.”

Yamaguchi’s plan was _not_ better.  In fact, it was spectacularly stupid.  The only reason Shin went along with it was because he didn’t want to admit to her that his plan had _also_ been to beat up Miura.

After they’d somehow managed to convince Miura that Shin had some sort of weird catfish whisker disease – and, really, Shin was starting to think that Miura had been dropped on a head as a child; there was no other way to explain that level of stupidity – he ripped off the fake moustaches and asked, “So what’s the rest of the plan?”

“That was the plan,” Yamaguchi said.  “No way Miura bothers you after this.”

Shin rolled his eyes.  “If all I wanted to do was get him away from me, I could have done that myself!  Getting him away from me doesn’t solve the problem!  He’s going to go to the chairman about _you_.”

“Nothing we can do about that,” Yamaguchi said with a shrug.  “I can’t hide my background for the rest of my life.”

“But…”

“Hey,” she said.  “I don’t know what the chairman’s going to try, but this is my problem.  You need to accept that and let it go.”

Inuzuka, who’d watched all of this silently, nodded and walked away.

Shin gritted his teeth.  “But…”

“ _No_ ,” Yamaguchi said.  “I appreciate your worry, but _no_.”

She left.

Shin swore and kicked the principal’s ugly sofa, then went home to brood.

~~~

He hadn’t managed to come up with any solutions by the next day.  Clearly Yamaguchi hadn’t either, because she kicked off homeroom with a farewell speech on the most “most important thing for a real man.”  Namely, fundoshi.

Shin sighed and gave up on getting anything helpful from her.

Which didn’t leave him with a lot of options.  Obviously his family was out, as was any of the other teachers in the school.  Yamaguchi’s family might have some potential, but Shin was a little worried about what Kuroda would do if he found out that Yamaguchi was in danger of losing her job over her background.

That left just one person, the one person Shin most wanted to avoid.  Unfortunately, there was no other option, not if Shin was serious about wanting to help Yamaguchi.

Thus it was with reluctance that Shin wandered over to Kamiyama that evening and skulked around Kuroda territory until he saw a familiar man with a ridiculous haircut.  Shin thought about calling out, but decided that he didn’t want to look that desperate.  Instead, he jogged down a block until he found a nice shadowed wall he could lean against, trying to look like he just happened to be hanging around the neighborhood.

Shinohara reached him a few seconds later.  “Sawada?”

Shin looked over.  “Evening.”

Shinohara looked unimpressed.  “It’s chilly out.  You want to come into the house?”

_No!_ Shin thought.  Out loud he said casually, “That’s all right.  I wanted to talk to you about something.  Alone.”

“Ah,” Shinohara said.  “Let’s go to the shrine, then.  It’ll be quiet this time of night.”

As they walked, Shin stole glances at Shinohara out of the corner of his eye.  This was the guy Yamaguchi liked.  Shin would’ve liked to say that her taste was bad, but he had to admit that the guy was pretty good looking –enough to pull off that stupid hairstyle – and he dressed well.  More important was his air of complete confidence.  Someday Shin would like to be that cool and self-assured.

Shin was used to being the coolest guy in the room, but next to Shinohara, he felt like nothing more than a stupid teenager.  No wonder Yamaguchi had a crush.

Hopefully Shinohara was as good as his confidence suggested.  He certainly listened with an intelligent look once they reached the shrine and Shin told him everything that had been going on with Miura.

“…I see,” Shinohara said when Shin finished.  “I didn’t realize how bad it’d gotten.  Kumiko hasn’t said anything at home.”

“She’s probably worried about what’d happen if Kyou-san hears about it.”

“Ah, true.  That could easily lead to bloodshed.”

Shin snorted.  “Probably death.”

Shinohara looked Shin over for a few seconds.  “So you decided to ask me for help?”

“I didn’t know who else to turn to,” Shin said reluctantly.  “And I can’t help at all.  But you’re a lawyer.  Can’t you think of something to help?  I mean, teachers can’t just be fired because of their family backgrounds, right?”

Shinohara considered that.  “We’ll have to see what happens, but I’ll think of something.”

So.  Fucking.  Confident.  Shin let out a silent breath.  On the one hand, he hated having to rely on someone else.  On the other hand, Yamaguchi had taught Shin the value of trustworthy backup in a dangerous situation, a situation where one person wasn’t enough.  This was a dangerous situation and Shin had already done everything he could.

“Then I’ll leave the rest to you,” he said, turning to leave.

“Sawada,” Shinohara said.

Shin turned back.  “Yeah?”

“You really look out for her.”

Shin hesitated before going for the safe answer.  “It’s my fault that Miura found out her secret.  I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”

Shinohara smirked.  “I see.”

Shin scowled at him.  “What are you laughing about?”

“I’m not laughing,” Shinohara said, still smirking.

Shin narrowed his eyes.  “Really, I should be asking you: how do you feel about Yamaguchi?”

Shinohara gaped, his smirk long gone.

Shin gritted his teeth and forced himself to continue.  “Do you like her?”

There was a long pause and Shin held his breath, waiting for the answer.

“How direct!” Shinohara finally said.  “Young people don’t beat around the bush, it seems.”

“Who the hell are ‘young people’?”  Shin snapped.  “Why are you talking like an old fart?  Are you trying to avoid the question?”

“No, I—“  He stopped speaking and glanced over as a loud rustling came from a nearby bush.

Shin looked over as well and flinched at the sight of half a dozen old folks crouching in the bushes, eavesdropping.

“What on earth are you all doing here?” Shinohara asked.

“We were having a neighborhood meeting at the shrine,” an old woman wearing curlers said.

“Don’t mind us,” a nearly bald grandpa added.  “Feel free to continue!”

Shin exchanged a glance with Shinohara and turned on his heel.  As he walked away, he heard the cries of dismay from the old folks.

Shin was feeling pretty fucking dismayed himself.  Why wouldn’t Shinohara answer the question?

Damn it!


	19. Plots Revealed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta! Also, I want to thank everyone for their lovely comments. I know I'm lousy at responding -- I just started a new job, a new semester of graduate school, and moved to a new state so my fandom time right now is minuscule and dedicated to writing -- but I appreciate each comment. They help keep me going.

After a couple of days passed without the chairman storming the school and firing Kumiko, she decided it was time to play offense.  With that in mind, she positioned herself just around the corner to Miura’s homeroom and leaned against the wall.

 _Funny_ , she thought.  _Leaning like this isn’t very comfortable.  I wonder how Sawada does this all of the time._   Though he leaned _a lot_ and she was more used to standing upright; maybe their spines were different.

She was still debating the pros and cons of the lean when Miura turned the corner and yelped, “Yamaguchi!”  After a moment he added, “…sensei.”

Kumiko smiled at him serenely, enjoying the nervous look on Miura’s face.  “I have a question for you, Miura-sensei.”

Miura looked wary.  “What questions?”

“Why are you acting like the chairman’s bitch?  What’s your motive?”

She’d expected him to take offense at her language, but he just let out a little laugh.  “Truthfully, we have an agreement.  Once this school closes, he’ll let me use the building to establish an ideal school.”

Kumiko lost her smile.  “An ideal school?”

Miura beamed.  “An elite school that will admit only the most intelligent, best-looking boys.”

Kumiko shuddered.  “That’s your dream?”

“As a teacher, it’s only logical that I’d want to reach good students, right?”  Miura asked.  With a sneer, he added, “I don’t understand why the trash in this school even bothers to come to class.”

Kumiko glared at him.  “There’s more to school than just studying!”

He scoffed.  “That kind of thinking is why this school is on the verge of closing.”

Miura walked away before Kumiko could come up with a retort.

Alone, she thought about next steps.  There weren’t a lot of options left.  Taking Sawada out of the equation had been important and she didn’t regret it, but it also took away Miura’s only obvious weak spot.

With a sigh, Kumiko headed to the principal’s office.  If nothing else, he should know that he might have to find a new math teacher soon.

All thoughts of Miura went right out of her head when she stepped into the principal’s office to find him sitting on the floor, surrounded by pictures of teenagers wearing school uniforms with really short skirts.  “What are you doing?” she screeched, grabbing the principal by the collar and hauling him up to his feet.

“It’s not what you think!” he choked out.

“I think your evil brother is working to shut down this school and you’re in here perving over pictures of high school girls!”

“No,” he wheezed.  “There’s a reason for it, I swear.”

“What about your dream?”  Kumiko dropped him to the floor.  “Isn’t it your dream to create a space for academic delinquents to develop normally and have a happy school life?”

“It is!”  The principal scrambled to his feet and moved over to the desk.  “But our reputation and track record aren’t great and there are fewer and fewer children being born each year.  It’s difficult to maintain a school under these conditions.”

It was depressing when he laid it out like that.  “Can’t you think of a way to make things better?”

“That’s why we need this,” he said, holding up a picture of a girl.  “We need to increase our numbers and the only way to do that is to go co-ed.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea.”

He beamed.  “Thank you!  And your timing is actually excellent; I was going to make an announcement later today.  We’re going to have an open house for girls next Friday and I’ll need you and the other teachers to prepare your students.”

“They’ll be excited,” Kumiko admitted.

“Here, this should help.”  He passed over a sheet from a stack of paper on the corner of this desk.  Kumiko took it and found that it was an old-fashioned drawing of a girl wearing a school uniform with an indecently short skirt.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten.  When she was done she decided that, for her sanity, she would chalk this up to a lack of drawing talent.  “This is the uniform for the female students?”

“Just an idea,” the principal said modestly.  “I’ll keep looking at pictures for inspiration.”

Now her sanity was insisting that she leave before she literally beat him to death.  She was halfway to the classroom before she realized that she’d forgotten to mention Miura and his plans.

 _Not a big deal_ , she thought as she nodded to a couple of students.  The principal was fully aware that the chairman had machinations afoot and this co-ed idea, while of dubious execution, did prove that the principal was capable of long-term planning.  He probably already had a backup plan in place, just in case she was forced out by the chairman.

With that less than cheery thought in mind, she walked into the classroom and called the students to attention.  While they didn’t exactly snap into their seats, most of them did look at her questioningly, which was a huge improvement over last year.  “I have an announcement,” she said, and more of the boys turned her way.  “Next year Shirokin High School is going to become co-ed.”

The class erupted into noise.  Kumiko let it go for a few seconds before adding, “This is not a joke.  In fact, the principal has already created a preliminary design for the girl’s uniform.”  She held up the drawing.

Everyone crowded in to look.  The commentary came quickly and caustically.  Kumiko just nodded along, as she totally agreed that the drawing style was old-fashioned, the girl looked very old, and the short skirt was perverted.

Once their curiosity was assuaged, the students went back to their seats and Kumiko put the drawing away so she wouldn’t have to look at it any more.  Then she sat back and waited for the boys to get the initial enthusiasm out of their system.

Murmured conversations started up, all about the girls, and Ucchi said loudly, “Girls!  Are coming to the school!  Yeah!”

One of the other guys snorted.  “Ucchi, you’re an idiot.”

Ucchi turned to glare at him.  “What did you just say?”

“We’re about to graduate,” another boy pointed out.

“Yeah,” said another.  “This school going co-ed doesn’t affect us at all.”

Ucchi looked like he’d just taken a mortal blow.  “Oh.  Yeah.”

“Yeah!” someone shouted.  “Why should we care about this, anyway?”

Kumiko smiled.  She’d guessed that this would come up, which was why she’d held back the best news.  “Because, before we can accept any female students, we have to give them a chance to see the school.”

The boys stared at her, dumbstruck.  “You mean…” one whispered.

“Yep,” Kumiko said brightly.  “On next Friday, female ninth grade students will be visiting our school.  And there’s going to be a lot of them.”

The boys immediately burst out with offers to help with the open house.  Kumiko grinned back.  Her grin slipped a little bit as half the boys ran out of the room and the other half shifted to the back to begin plotting.

“You really should have told them at the end of the day,” Sawada said, sauntering up.

“It’s big news!  I wanted to share it.  Besides,” she wrinkled her nose, “I wanted to get rid of that drawing as soon as possible.”

Sawada nodded acknowledgment and leaned against her desk.  “So… this is why the principal hired female teachers last year.”

Kumiko paused, struck by the suggestion.  That hadn’t actually occurred to her, but… “I guess so.  That sneaky baldy!”

“He _is_ the principal,” Sawada pointed out.

“That’s true.”  Kumiko turned to look at him.  “So, what’re you going to do to make the open house a success?”

“Show up?” Sawada offered.

She ruffled his hair and laughed when he ducked away.  “That’s the spirit.”

~~~

The week before the open house was filled with fevered work, none of which was academic in any way.  Outside of Kumiko’s classroom, the school was typically at the cleanliness level of a pigsty, which meant that all of the rooms had to first get a surface clean and then, including Kumiko’s room, a deep clean.  After that, the floors were waxed, the windows were washed, and the flower boxes were planted.  Oddly enough, no one would admit to buying the flowers, though they looked quite pretty.

The morning of the open house, Kumiko debated what to wear.  On the one hand, it probably would look better if all of the teachers were professionally dressed for the open house.  On the other hand, the presence of a lot of girls undoubtedly would mean a lot of fights, and she’d be better able to step in anonymously if she wasn’t wearing a skirt.

Ultimately, she opted for the track suit.  Not only would it be easier for her to move around in, the other teachers would probably be wearing the same.  She doubted Iwamoto even _owned_ a suit.

Walking into the school, she noticed the student body was much neater than usual.  For one thing, almost everyone was wearing their full uniform; for some students, it was the first time she’d ever seen them wearing the uniform jacket.  On top of that, the scent of teenage boy was greatly reduced, presumably through extra washing, and everyone’s hair was neater than usual.

“What do you think?” a boy asked as a quartet came up to stand in front of her.

Kumiko blinked at him.  The voice sounded familiar, but… “Noda?”

He grinned, which meant she was right, which was a miracle.  Without his hat, he looked like another person.

She looked at the rest of the group, trying to imagine them without the uniform and the stylish haircuts.  Kuma was easy to identify from his size, and Minami had to be the kid with the light brown hair, but the kid with the tousled black locks was a complete stranger.  “Who are you?”

“I’m Ucchi!” he said, sounding offended.

She gaped at him.  “Really?”

“Really!” he snapped back.

“We decided that if we looked too weird, the girls would be scared,” Noda said.

Ucchi smiled, patting at his unrecognizable hair.  “This’ll make the school look better.”

“You do seem more normal,” Kumiko said, though in the back of her mind she thought: _But less like my students._

Forcing a smile, she sent them on their way.  Feeling pensive, she went to the teachers’ lounge to put away her bag and touch base with everyone else.  Most of them were wearing their usual track suits, with a few guys in suits – including Iwamoto, who apparently did own one – and one teacher, for some inexplicable reason, wearing a judogi.  Iwamoto was making a patrol schedule for the men in anticipation of fighting.

Nodding a greeting to Fujiyama, Kumiko went out to do a patrol of her own.  Not for the first time, she was grateful for Iwamoto’s sexism when it came to scheduling patrols.  It’d be much harder for her to maintain her cover if a teacher ever witnessed her in action.

She’d been patrolling for less than a minute when she heard shouting in the student council room.  With a sigh she headed that direction.  “Hey!” she shouted in the doorway.  “What’re you guys doing?”

Noda-with-the-wrong-hair kept on fighting a kid from class three.  Before Kumiko could go and break it up, she spotted Kubo tied up and lying on the floor.  “Kubo!”  She hurried over and untied him.  “What happened to you?”

“Iwamoto-sensei asked the student council to give the girls tours of the school.  As soon as these guys heard, they rushed over here and told me to act like they were part of the student council.”  He leaned forward and raised his voice.  “No one at the school ever wants to join the student council!  For the last three years it’s just been me!  It’s not fair that they want to take over now!”

She stared at him incredulously. “ _You’re_ the student council president?”

He looked deeply offended.

“Of course you are!” she added hastily.  “Everyone, you’re being really unfair to Kubo.  There’s plenty of girls to go around; just help him out.”

The guys grumbled, but at least they stopped fighting.  She managed to appease Kubo by promising that he’d get to organize the tour groups and that he’d have first pick when it came to choosing a group to lead.  The rest of the guys she glared into submission.

As she walked down the hall looking for the next crisis, she thought about the fact that the only person who wanted to be part of the student council was a guy who still seemed to be using drugs on a semi-regular basis.  Maybe that would change next year; if not, the student council would be entirely female.

Huh.  Maybe that would be for the best.

She turned a corner and saw a familiar head of red hair.  “Hey, Sawada.”  She jogged to catch up.  “Where’re you going?”

“Vice Principal’s office,” he said.  “I got a summons.”

She frowned.  “What’ve you done now?”

“How should I know?”

 _Fair_ , Kumiko thought.  Now that she really considered it, Sawada had mostly stayed out of trouble this year, barring the Miura incident.  Maybe he was growing up.

They turned another corner and the reason for the summons became clear.  Taped over the vice principal’s office door was a huge flower-covered signed reading, “Academic Questions”.

“Oh, brother,” Kumiko said.

Sawada snorted.

They walked into the office to find the vice principal and a foreign kid who’d started showing up in classes a couple of weeks before.  She didn’t know much about the kid, since his Japanese was atrocious and they’d yet to manage a mutually comprehensible conversation.

“There you are, Sawada,” the vice principal said.  “I want to get rid of the impression that Shirokin isn’t strong academically, so I want you to be on the panel of students to answer the junior high students’ questions.”

Kumiko looked around the room.  “There’s only two students here.  Doesn’t that just emphasize the fact that our other students are stupid?  Also, this kid is a foreigner.”

“Michael is a top student at his school in Australia,” the vice principal said primly.

 _Michael_.  So that was his name.  Sounded kind of weird to her, but at least she’d be able to address him in class now.  To the vice principal, she said, “Yeah, but he still has problems with Japanese.”

“I’m Michael,” Michael said.  “I come from Australia.”

“Oh,” Kumiko said, surprised.  “You’ve been practicing.”

“I can’t get it up,” Michael said in the same tone of voice he’d used to announce his name.

“ _What?_ ” Kumiko yelped.  Behind her she heard Sawada mutter, “Oh, shit.”

“My interests are drawing and soccer,” Michael added.  “And playing with myself.”

She rounded on Sawada.  “Who taught him all of that crap?”

He stepped back, hands up.  “I don’t know!  But my guess is class three.”

Kumiko scowled.  Class three was Michael’s class, which made sense.  Not that it helped the situation now.  “Try not to let him talk,” she told Sawada.

He looked skeptical but nodded.  She wasn’t sure how much success he’d have with the vice principal in the room, but she’d just have to hope for the best.  There was still a lot of the school left to patrol.

By the time the girls showed up, Kumiko had broken up two fights and soothed a boy nearing hysterics over the state of his hair.  Privately, she worried about what this meant for next year.  Hopefully everyone would settle quickly into the new normal, but the first few weeks were probably going to be hellish for everyone involved.

Just before the girls were supposed to arrive, Kumiko rounded up her homeroom.  “Okay, listen up!  No fighting today!  No threatening!  No cursing!  Remember to act like kind older brothers!  Can you do this?”

“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted back, which just went to show that they were really on their best behavior.  Considering how many fights she’d already broken up today, it didn’t speak very highly of their best behavior.

“Just try to stay out of trouble,” she added with a sigh.  “And have fun.”

The boys grinned at each other and at her and then ran off.  Hopefully they were all going to their assigned stations; Kumiko knew the vice principal had been working on setting up some classroom demonstrations for the girls to see.

Feeling curious, Kumiko wandered out into the hallways and found a good place to hide and watch the girls coming into the building.  There were a lot more of them than she’d expected.  None of them were wearing short skirts, which would undoubtedly be a disappointment to the guys but hopefully would result in less fighting.

“Hey Miyuki,” one girl said as she was passing Kumiko’s hiding spot.

Another girl looked back.  “Oh, Inako-chan!”

“I’m surprised you came,” Inako said, running up to stand next to her friend.

Miyuki shrugged.  “I figured this was the only chance I’d have to see Shirokin’s grounds.”

“Me, too,” Inako answered.

Kumiko knocked her head against the wall.  Hopefully these two girls were outliers – otherwise, this entire venture was doomed from the start.

Heading back out on patrol, she looked into the various classrooms with interest.  It didn’t take long for her to figure out that the vice principal had spent less energy on matching students with their skills for the classroom demonstrations and more energy on ensuring that the students most likely to fight were kept busy.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so Kumiko decided that counted as a success.

Less successful was Kubo, who appeared to be learning the hard way that coordinating the girls’ tours was a lot more work than representing a non-active student council.  One question had him entirely stumped: “Where’s the girl’s bathroom?”

He froze in wide-eyed panic.  Kumiko hid a smile and took pity on him.  “Take the stairs over there.  It’s at the end of the faculty office.”

The girls said thank you and hurried away.  Kumiko turned to Kubo.  “Looks like you’re a bit overwhelmed.  What happened to the guys who were supposed to be helping you?”

It turned out that the other guys had gotten distracted by some pretty girls and wandered off.  Kumiko rolled her eyes and went looking.

She found Noda first, running down the hall shouting for Sawada.  Kumiko hooked him by the neck and stopped him in his tracks.  “Noda-kun,” she said sweetly in deference to the girls watching.  “I told you that while ladies are present you shouldn’t yell.”

“Shut up!” he yelled at her.  “I don’t care about that now!”

She dropped her fake smile.  “Hey, wait.  What’s going on?”

He slumped back against the wall.  “Last Saturday, me, Ucchi, and Minami were at the arcade when some dangerous looking guys picked a fight with us.  They tried to drag us somewhere, but we managed to get free and ran away.”

“And they showed up here today?” Kumiko asked.  “What terrible timing.”

“I know!” Noda said.  “So let me go already so I can get Shin.”

She let him go.  He promptly ran off to the vice principal’s office.  She ran off to the back of the school, which she thought was the most likely place for a fight.

Sure enough, there were a couple of strange guys wearing face masks with a black cross over their mouths.  Frankly, it looked kind of silly, but they were clearly strong.  As Kumiko ran up, one guy kicked Minami to the ground and put a foot on the back of Minami’s head.  “Is that the attitude of someone asking for a favor?” the kicker shouted.  “Your head should be lower.”

Kumiko was confused until she heard the other guys debating about getting into the fight.  Apparently Minami had tried to defuse the situation rather than fight in front of the girls.

Feeling a combination of pride in her boys and utter fury at these assholes who were ruining what should have been the perfect open house, Kumiko started toward the bad guys.  Behind her, she heard Sawada call her name, but there was no stopping her now.  “You scum!” she shrieked as she ran toward the kicker.  “That’s enough!  Let him go!”

A hush settled over the yard, penetrating her fury.  Right, her cover.  She pulled herself to a stop next to the kicker, rather than tackling him to the ground and beating him senseless.

“Who’re you?” he asked.

Kumiko thought quickly.  “I’m the gorgeous female teacher he adores!”

Muttering broke out at that, which Kumiko took to be a good sign.  She’d played the fool enough for her boys that they’d started to shrug off otherwise remarkable behavior as “Yankumi being Yankumi.”

The kicker stared at her.  “Are you stupid?  Get out of here!”

She narrowed her eyes, feeling the rage rise up again.  “I said, get your mangy shoe off of him!”  Not waiting for a response, she kicked the foot off Minami’s head.

The second bad guy came running forward.  “You bitch!” he said, grabbing her shirt.

She grabbed his arm, pulling it straight up until it cracked, either dislocated or broken.  She didn’t particularly care which at the moment.  The guy fell to the ground, whimpering.

“Who are you?” the kicker shouted.  He swung at Kumiko a couple of times and she dodged.  On his last swing, he left his torso wide open and she threw her entire weight into a punch to the pit of his stomach.  He collapsed, groaning.

“Don’t dick around in other people’s territory,” she told him flatly.

Suddenly she registered the dead silence in the yard.  A quick glance around showed dozens of students gaping at her.

 _Shit, shit, SHIT!_ she thought frantically.  She’d completely lost track of her surroundings!  How had that happened?

Desperately, she hauled up the unconscious kicker and pulled an arm over one shoulder so she could hold him up.  “So, uh, please leave for today.”  She pretended like she was listening to him.  “Oh, you understand!  Thank you!  You’re really a pretty decent person after all.”  Unable to face any of her students, she turned around and walked away, half-carrying and half-dragging the kicker along.  Behind her, she could hear the second bad guy following.

Once they reached a private spot, she tossed the kicker to his friend.  “Take him and get the fuck out of here,” she hissed.  “I don’t _ever_ want to see you at this school again.”

The second guy just nodded and lifted his friend in a fireman’s hold.  Kumiko watched them long enough to be sure they were actually leaving, then let out a sigh and went back to face the music.

When she got back to the yard, all of the girls were gone and Minami seemed to be having some sort of fit.  “Yankumi!” he shouted.

“Uh…yeah?”

Everyone started yelling at her.  “The girls are gone!”

“It’s all your fault!”

“You told us not to fight!  Why are you fighting!”

“Sorry!” she said, taken aback.  They all seemed angry about her fighting, but not surprised.  She wasn’t sure what that meant.

The boys wandered off, grumbling.  Sawada stayed behind to lift his eyebrows judgmentally.

“Oh, shut up,” she told him.

He grinned and turned to follow his friends.

Kumiko sighed and headed to the teachers’ lounge.  She’d had about as much patrolling as she could take for the day.

Unfortunately, the teachers’ lounge did not prove to be the sanctuary that Kumiko had hoped for as gossip had already spread about the fight.  The vice principal reamed her out for fighting in front of the junior high students.  Kumiko gritted her teeth and took the chastisement; at least no one seemed to be questioning _how_ Kumiko knew to fight, just her judgment in letting the fight happen.  As if she’d had any say over the situation.

Iwamoto came into the lounge and interrupted the vice principal mid-speech.  “Actually, I don’t think she scared anyone away,” he said.

Kumiko glanced over in surprise.  Iwamoto seemed to like her well enough these days, but no one voluntarily jumped in when the vice principal was on a rant.

The vice principal looked less surprised and more angry.  “What do you mean?” he gritted out.

“Just now I was at the school gates,” Iwamoto said.  “And I heard some girls talking about the fight.  They didn’t seem particularly surprised to see fighting at Shirokin, and one girl even said that the fight made her want to apply.”

“What?” the vice principal yelped.  “Why?”

“She said that she thought Yamaguchi-sensei was really heroic.  And the other girls agreed.”

The other teachers broke out in praise and Kumiko felt herself blushing.  “It was just a lucky break.  I’m not a hero.”

“That’s not the point!” the vice principal yelled, but it was too late.  They’d all stopped listening.


	20. The Black Cross Gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

Shin wasn’t sure how much to worry about the Black Cross gang after the open house fiasco.  On the one hand, they sounded crazy and out of control.  On the other hand, Yamaguchi managed to wipe out two of them with only one punch.  Even for Yamaguchi, that was a record.

Then again, from the stories the other guys were telling, the fear of the Black Cross wasn’t from their physical strength, it was from the dirtiness of their tactics.  Yamaguchi could probably take these guys in a fair fight, but what if one of them ran her over with a car?  Yamaguchi was strong, but she wasn’t Superman.

He was surprised when Minami was the one who raised the idea of warning Yamaguchi about the gang.  He knew that the guys were secretly fond of her, but going to her with a specific warning not only indicated that they valued her, but also that they expected her to be able to do something with the knowledge.  After all, they were fond of Fujiyama as well, but the only way they’d go to her with a warning is if they’d attached a promise of protection, undoubtedly laden with sleazy innuendo.

Unfortunately, it was hard to tell how seriously Yamaguchi took the warning.  Sure, she seemed pissed off at the Tenkai group for not taking care of a gang operating in their territory, but the actual warning to her was greeted with her irritating girly act.  She did seem touched that they cared and she did promise to be careful.  That was better than nothing, Shin decided.

More interesting was the conversation after she left.  The guys bemoaned Yamaguchi’s utter obliviousness to personal danger, which was a common theme.  Then one guy asked, “But wasn’t she pretty strong last time?”

“Yeah, she beat up two guys in no time,” someone else commented.  “Why is she that strong?”

Shin perked up, wondering if he’d have to step in and deflect this guessing into a safer direction.

“I’ve heard Yankumi’s been taking self defense lately,” Ucchi said.  “And that she won that fight purely through luck.”

The entire class started shouting about how Yamaguchi was too ugly to need self-defense and then moved on to other, safer topics.

Shin shook his head with a tiny smile.  His classmates really were idiots.

~~~

While they were waiting for Yamaguchi to show up for math class the next afternoon, Minami’s phone rang.  He answered it, listened for a second, then shouted, “You!  How do you know my number?”

Everyone turned to look at Minami.  “A teacher I worship?  There’s no…”  His face suddenly went white.  “Yankumi?  You kidnapped Yankumi?”

Shin shot up and went over to Minami, who was listening, his face starting to go grey.  “Stop it!  She’s not someone I admire!”

“Give me the phone,” Shin hissed, holding out his hand.

“Do you guys really think you can get away with this?” Minami asked the caller.

“Minami!” Shin snapped.  “Give me the phone!”

“Hey, didn’t I tell you guys to turn off your phones during class?”

Everyone froze and turned slowly to face the doorway, where Yamaguchi stood, looking irritated.

“Yankumi?” Minami screeched, the color flooding back into his face.  He looked at his phone.  “Fuck off, assholes!” he screamed into it before hanging up by stabbing hard on the end button.

“What was that?” Yamaguchi asked, looking a little stunned.

“The Black Cross guy from last week!  He said he’d kidnapped you and was going to beat you up.”

Now Yamaguchi just looked confused.  “What?  Why?”

The rest of the class hemmed and hawed and Yamaguchi shook her head.  “Never mind.  It’s time for class to—”

She froze, then pulled out her own cell phone.  Ignoring the protests of the students, she dialed a number quickly and listened, her expression going dark.  She hung up.  “Minami, I need you to call that guy back.”

“Fuck no,” Minami said.

“What’s wrong?” Shin asked, because Yamaguchi looked seriously worried.

“Fujiyama-sensei went home early today.  I just called her cell phone and she didn’t pick up.  What if the person they kidnapped was Fujiyama-sensei?”

“Oh, shit,” Minami said, and called back.  Everyone could hear yelling coming from the phone as the Black Cross guy picked up, but Minami managed to stay calm as he asked, “That female teacher… just wondering, but are her boobs really big?”  He listened for a second and then bowed his head.  “It’s Fujiyama for sure.”

Ucchi groaned, undoubtedly remembering the stalking incident.

“Give me the phone,” Yamaguchi said, snatching it away from Minami.  “Hey,” she said to the Black Cross guy.  “It’s me.  We met last time you were at school.  I gotta tell you: involving innocent bystanders is too low.”

There was more yelling on the phone.  From the semi-bored expression on Yamaguchi’s face, Shin guessed that the yelling was from the Black Cross guys fighting amongst themselves, rather than anyone yelling directly at Yamaguchi.  There was a moment of silence before Yamaguchi huffed out a quiet laugh.  “Yeah, I was surprised that Shirokin had a second female teacher myself.  But she doesn’t have anything to do with this, so let her go.”

She listened for a few seconds, then her eyes twitched over to look at Shin.  _Shit_ , he thought.  _She’s about to do something stupid._

The conversation after that was very one-sided, with Shin able to hear nothing other than a few words of agreement from Yamaguchi.  Then she hung up the phone and tossed it to Minami.  “Here.”

“Hey, what about Fujiyama?” Ucchi protested.

“She’s fine,” Yamaguchi said.  “They got the wrong person, so they said they’d let her go.”

_That’s some straight-up bullshit_ , Shin thought, but he didn’t bother protesting with the rest of the class.  Instead, he bided his time and when school let out for the day, he ran around to the back of the building.

As he expected, fifteen minutes later Yamaguchi came climbing over the wall.

“Crap,” she said when she saw him.  “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

Shin didn’t bother to answer that, just asked, “Where’s the meeting place?”

“What?”

He rolled his eyes.  “You’re going to rescue Fujiyama, aren’t you?  Where are they?”

She sighed.  “No.”

“No?”

“You’re not coming.”  Her eyes widened and she looked over his shoulder.  “You guys aren’t coming either!”

Shin only looked over his shoulder for just a second, but it was a second too long.  His stomach erupted in agony and his breath stuck in his lungs.  He looked back to see Yamaguchi’s fist still in his gut.  “You—” he tried to say, but he couldn’t draw in a breath and his entire body was weak.

Yamaguchi caught him as he started to sink to the ground.  Despite the fact that she was a good six inches shorter than him, she dragged him over to a bench and laid him down.  She paused, then shrugged off her coat and draped it over him.  “Shin, please understand.  These guys are willing to pick a fight with the yakuza.”  She ruffled his hair.  “I can’t take someone as cute as you along with me.”

She ran off.

Shin closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

It felt like an eternity – but was probably only a few minutes – before he was able to stand up and limp his way around to the front of the building.  The guys were still there, though they had apparently figured out that Yamaguchi had gone around back and given them all the slip.

“What should we do?” Kuma asked.

Shin gritted his teeth.  “Does anyone know where the Black Cross guys hang out?”

There was a long pause.  Finally, Inuzuka said, “I think I do.”

Everyone turned to look at him and he immediately went into scary face.  “That’s right,” Noda said.  “You’re yakuza, aren’t you?”

Shin was glad he wasn’t the only one who kept forgetting that.  “How far away is it?” he asked Inuzuka.  “Can we walk there?”

“Yeah,” Inuzuka said.  “But it’ll take a while.”

Shin closed his eyes briefly and hoped that Yamaguchi could hold out for as long as it took.  “Come on, then.  Let’s go.”

~~~

In the end, it took almost an hour, and Shin was psyching himself up to finding Yamaguchi’s corpse or, at the very least, her badly beaten body.  To his surprise, however, the building looked completely quiet.  Almost abandoned.

Everyone exchanged cautious looks and then turned to face the building.

“Wait!” Noda said suddenly.  “We should put Inuzuka in the front.”

Inuzuka’s face turned scary.  “What?”

“That’s right,” Minami said.  “He’s a yakuza.  He can act as our shield.”

Inuzuka’s squawking gained in volume, but a couple of the bigger guys just grabbed him and dragged him to the front of the group.  When he was arranged, Ucchi said, “Okay, on the count of three, everyone call her name.  One, two, three!”

“ ** _YANKUMIIIIIIIIII!”_**

Since everyone was staring at the door intently, Shin looked up.  At the window, he saw Yamaguchi appear.  She was a little scuffed up, but she looked fine.

A second later, Kyou appeared next to her.  Shin let out a quiet sigh of relief.  She hadn’t been alone.

The boys shouted again, “ ** _Are you all right?  Where are you?_** ”  After that impressive showing, Ucchi lost control of the group and the boys started shouting randomly.

Shin kept his eyes on Yamaguchi.  She looked sad and tired and he desperately wanted to go up to meet her.  Suddenly he realized what a stupid idea it had been to bring everyone here.  Even if Yamaguchi had been in trouble, most of these guys would be more of a hindrance than a help.  And with them standing around as witnesses, Shin had lost a rare opportunity to be alone with Yamaguchi off school grounds.  It wasn’t until now, with such an opportunity slipping through his fingers, that he realized how much they meant to him.  If he was with her, he could make her feel better.  He knew he could.

But they weren’t alone and all he could do was watch as she turned away.

Shin sighed and rubbed his face, then moved to the front of the group.  “Hey, Shin-chan,” Kuma said.  “What’re you doing?”

“There’s no point in standing out here shouting,” Shin said.  “If there was anyone inside, they would’ve come out by now.”

There was a murmur of agreement among the guys.  Still, Inuzuka was kept in the front of the group as they made their way through the front door.

Inside, they found bodies lying everywhere.  “Holy _shit_ ,” Minami breathed.  “What happened here?”

“Did—did Yankumi do this?” Ucchi asked, sounding doubtful.

Shin saw a number of bodies that bore the distinctive sign of a Yamaguchi fight – namely, they were unconscious but didn’t have any obvious injuries.  From personal experience, he knew that most of Yamaguchi’s opponents would have a big painful bruise on their stomachs.

Still, mixed in with Yamaguchi opponents were a huge number of men with bloody faces.  Those had to be the work of Kyou or…  Suddenly, three of the men groaned and stood upright.  _Ah_ , Shin thought as he recognized Wakamatsu, Tetsu, and Minoru.  _More backup._

At the sight of three massive, blood-covered yakuza, the guys from 3-4 understandably started to freak out.  It didn’t help that Wakamatsu noticed the group and shouted, “Newcomers!” at the same time that Tetsu yelled, “Fresh meat!”

The Shirokin boys scattered.  Shin swore and tried to surreptitiously catch the attention of the Kuroda guys, but they were still caught in a battle rage and were grabbing for whatever Shirokin boy was closest.

Thankfully, Kyou chose that moment to come down the stairs, carrying Fujiyama.  “Hey,” Kyou said calmly.  “Stop it.  Those guys are unrelated.”

Instantly, the Kuroda guys dropped the boys they were gearing up to assault.  Ucchi and Minami spotted Fujiyama and showed their spines by getting closer.  “Fujiyama!” they exclaimed.

Kyou passed Fujiyama off to Ucchi, who immediately collapsed under her weight.  “She’s all right,” he said.  “We happened to rescue her by chance.”

Minami chewed on his lip for a moment before asking, very politely, “Excuse me.  W-was there another woman with them?”

Kyou snarled.  “No, there wasn’t!  What?  Wasn’t one enough?”

“No, no!” Minami said, backing up hastily.  “One’s enough.”

He went back to a cluster of guys who were creeping back in, now that the threat of violence was gone.  “That’s weird,” he said.  “It looks like Yankumi didn’t come after all.”

“Cut the chatter,” Kyou said briskly.  “Reinforcements for these guys are probably on their way.  Take your busty teacher and get out of here before they come.”

The class chorused hasty agreement and thanks and Kyou turned to walk away.  As he passed Shin, he pulled his sunglasses down enough to wink.  “See ya!” he said, loudly as if it was for the full group, pushed his sunglasses back in place, and walked away.

“Wait,” Kuma said.  “That guy… he looks familiar.  Wasn’t he the one from that time?”

Shin closed his eyes briefly.  If Kuma was any more slow, he’d be moving backwards.  “Yeah.”

“Why was he here?”

“Who knows?” Shin said.  “Maybe he was just passing by.”

“Oh,” Kuma said, considering that.  “Okay.”

Shin sighed.


	21. Knight-sama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

Kumiko wasn’t looking forward to going to school after the rescue.  Seeing her boys come to her rescue had been both one of the best moments of her life and one of the worst.  Walking away from them had been the only option she could live with, but it hadn’t been easy.

Fortunately, none of them seemed upset.  This might’ve been because the guys were too busy bragging about rescuing Fujiyama themselves to have much thought for what had happened to Kumiko.

Sawada was, as always, the exception.  She remembered the look on his face after she punched him and made a special effort to corner him on the roof after class to apologize.

“It’s okay,” he said, though his expression said otherwise.  “I get it.  I wasn’t strong enough for this fight.”

Kumiko winced, but didn’t try to correct him.  He _hadn’t_ been strong enough for that fight.  The Black Cross gang would’ve killed him.

“I’m glad you brought backup,” Sawada added.

Since Kumiko wasn’t about to admit that her backup had been entirely unintentional, she turned her attention to the view of the city.

Sawada, who was sitting in his usual spot next to her, his back against the wall and one knee pulled up, asked in a voice of forced casualness.  “Fujiyama…”

He didn’t finish, but Kumiko didn’t need him to.  “She’s fine.  Her clothes were intact when we arrived.”

Sawada let out a quiet sigh and from the corner of her eye, Kumiko could see tension run out of his body.  “The Black Cross had a bad reputation, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, looking away.

Kumiko looked back out over the city.

They stayed that way until the rest of the class showed up.

~~~

Kumiko knew Fujiyama was strong, but she was still stunned to see the other woman walking down the hall.  “Fujiyama-sensei?  Are you alright?  I didn’t expect to see you today.”

Fujiyama turned and answered, “I’m fine.”

Kumiko blinked.  Fujiyama was better than fine; she looked positively radiant.  It took her a second to remember the words that she’d planned to say when she saw Fujiyama gain.  “I, uh – I’m sorry you got hurt.  You were only involved in such a mess because of me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fujiyama said airily, opening the door to the teacher’s lounge and letting Kumiko go in first.  “The concussion was minor and I woke up eventually, so I’m fine.  Besides…” she blushed “I was rescued by an _amazingly cool_ guy.”

Kumiko’s brain shorted out for a moment.  “Uh… what?”

“I was saved by a magnificent knight-sama!  His beautiful face was covered in scars,” she added with a happy sigh.

“Uh… no.  You were rescued by an old, perverted yakuza strongman.”

Fujiyama stared at her.  “Wha—?”

“At least that’s what I heard!” Kumiko added hastily.

“Hm.  Well, he did have a few years on him, but his eyes were lovely, like a teenager’s.”

Kumiko shuddered at the very thought.

“And while he did use some strange slang, his voice was clear and beautiful,” Fujiyama added.  “I think underneath those scars is hiding a delicate heart.”

Kumiko choked.  “Uh, no.  I don’t think that his scars are hiding anything.  I think you’re imagining things because of your concussion.”

“You’re wrong,” Fujiyama said airily.  “If you’d seen the gentleman, you’d know what I meant.”  She leaned in to add, “I heard he’s related to the Kuroda group.”

“What?” Kumiko yelped.  “Why do you know that?”

“I heard it from Noda-kun.  Apparently his sister dated someone in the Kuroda group.”

Kumiko swallowed a groan.  She’d almost managed to forget that fiasco.

“Anyway,” Fujiyama said.  “I’m thinking of going to the Tenkai group and asking about it.”

“ _What_?” Kumiko shrieked.  The lounge went silent and Kumiko gulped as she realized everyone was staring at her.  “I think,” she said, much more quietly, “It’s best if you don’t get involved.  These guys are thugs.  You don’t know what they might do to you!”

“I hear what you’re saying,” Fujiyama said.  “But I’m going to do whatever it takes to meet my knight-sama.  I have to express my gratitude, if nothing else.”

Kumiko hung her head and sighed.

~~~

That night, she tried to look at Kyou through the eyes of a woman, rather than the eyes of a daughter.  Over the course of the evening, he told rude jokes, read pornography, repeatedly passed gas, and planned a violent raid on an encroaching gang.  Not to mention, even to Kumiko’s fond eyes, he wasn’t the slightest bit beautiful.

At the end of the evening, she’d come to a conclusion: she could _never_ let these two meet!

~~~

Over the next few weeks, Kumiko kept a close eye on Fujiyama, watching carefully for any sign that she might be reaching out to random yakuza in her quest to meet Kyou.  Fortunately, a bunch of boys joined the choir club and that seemed to have distracted Fujiyama from her quest to find her knight-sama and, gradually, Kumiko started to let down her guard and enjoy the school year.

That’s why it was such a shock when Fujiyama pulled Kumiko aside one day and confronted her with the picture Miura had taken at the festival.  At the top of the picture had been printed: Yamaguchi Kumiko is the Heiress of the Kuroda Yakuza Family.

“Is this true?” Fujiyama bit out.

Kumiko stared.  “Where did you find this?”

“It was on the bulletin board this morning.  No one else has seen it.  _Is it true_?”

“Well… you see…”

“That’s a yes.”

“I was planning on telling you someday,” Kumiko said hastily.  “I just…”

“Enough.”  Fujiyama slapped the picture into Kumiko’s chest and then let go.  Kumiko barely managed to grab it before it dropped to the floor.

When she looked up from the paper, Fujiyama was already walking out the door.

In a daze, Kumiko wandered in the direction of the teacher’s lounge.  She’d thought she’d been prepared for this day, that she’d prepared to lose her friends and colleagues to her secret.  Clearly she hadn’t prepared nearly enough, because her heart was weeping.

She’d never really thought Fujiyama would be the one to turn away from her.  Of all of her colleagues, she’d thought Fujiyama would be the one who would understand.

Kumiko was staring into space, contemplating the upcoming disaster, when Miura walked in and asked the room in general, “So… did something happen today?”

He clearly hadn’t seen her, so she stepped up behind him and let loose her killing aura.  “What do you mean by “something”?”

Miura spun around, sweat already popping up on his brow.  “Yamaguchi!”

Kumiko gave herself a moment to fantasize beating Miura unconscious and then stringing him up naked.  Unfortunately that fantasy was incompatible with her wish to be a teacher and a role model for her students, but she did derive satisfaction from the widening of Miura’s eyes as the silence stretched.

He broke first.  “W-what are you thinking about?”

Kumiko sighed.  “Nothing much.”

Just before she walked away, she had the pleasure of seeing Miura’s face fill with terror.

That sustained her for a few minutes, but her interest in Miura was always in short supply.  The moment Fujiyama stepped into the teacher’s lounge, Kumiko’s thoughts abandoned Miura entirely.

Taking a deep breath, Kumiko hesitantly walked over to Fujiyama and sat down.  “Excuse me, Fujiyama-sensei,” she said, in her most formal voice.  “Could we meet at lunch to talk about—”

Fujiyama snatched up the folder she’d just put down on the table and stood up, turning away.

“Sensei!” Kumiko said, getting up as well.  “Please wait!  If you’ll only hear my side…”

“I misjudged you!” Fujiyama said.  “From now on, please avoid talking to me unless it’s about work.”

She turned and stalked away.

Kumiko watched her go and tried not to cry.

After a few seconds, she realized that everyone was staring at her.  Sniffing quietly, she ran out of the teacher’s lounge.  On instinct, she headed for the roof.  It wasn’t until she burst out the door and found herself looking around that she realized what – or rather _who_ – she was looking for.

Sawada was lying on his side a few feet away, his back to the door.  Kumiko ran over and dropped down next to him.  After a second, she curled up, pulling her knees in close to her chest.

There was a pause.

“…you want to talk about something?” Sawada finally asked.

“No,” she answered.

“Okay.”

Another pause.

“It’s just… even when I was a kid, people talked trash about my family.  People I thought were friends would dump me the moment they heard who my family was.  It happened so many times that I… that I just gave up.  I decided it couldn’t be helped.  But…”  She took in several breaths.

Sawada pushed himself up until he was sitting next to her.  “But?”

She sighed.  “Fujiyama-sensei was… different.  If she knew about my family, I knew she would just laugh and say, “Who cares about that?”  Because that was the type of person she was.  Or at least I thought that was the type of person she was.”  She rubbed her eyes hastily.  “She didn’t even want to hear me out.  She just hates me.”

“Fujiyama?” Sawada asked quietly.

Kumiko dropped her head in a nod, hiding her eyes.  There were too many tears to blink away.

“Yamaguchi?”

A sob broke out.  Kumiko bit down on her lip but she wasn’t able to entirely muffle her cries.

Next to her, Sawada was painfully silent.

Kumiko’s nose was so stuffed up it was hard to breathe.  Keeping her head down, she held out a hand.  “Do you have a handkerchief?”

She heard fabric rustling and then the sound of Sawada shifting.  “Here,” he said.

Kumiko looked through swollen eyes to see that Sawada was sitting in front of her.  The back of his dress shirt had been untucked.  She sniffed.  “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, not looking back.

“…thank you.”  She used the shirt to wipe her eyes and then blew her nose.

“ _What the hell?_   Don’t do that on my shirt!  Use a tissue!”

“Hey!” Kumiko snapped back, the sharp flair of embarrassment-tinged anger pushing aside her grief.  “You offered!  Don’t complain!”

“I don’t believe you,” Sawada grumbled, stripping off his uniform shirt and revealing the tee-shirt he was wearing underneath.

She couldn’t quite manage a smile at him, but she no longer wanted to cry.  “I’m all right now.  All of the water in my nose has been drained.”

“No shit,” he muttered, though now that she could see him clearly, he didn’t look that annoyed.

He was turning into such a good man, Kumiko thought.  She was proud to be his teacher, even if he was skipping classes.  Again.  She frowned.  “You shouldn’t be skipping classes.  Come on.”

He heaved a theatrical-sounding sigh, but followed her down the stairs.

On the third floor landing, they ran into Fujiyama.  She looked at the two of them and then actually stuck her nose in the air and walked in a giant circle to ensure that she got no closer to them than physically required.

It was a bit childish, Kumiko thought, but it wasn’t the first time someone had behaved that way.  Not when they learned the truth.

“Hey, Fujiyama!” Sawada snapped.  “I can’t believe you’re making this much fuss over such a stupid thing.  I misjudged you!”

Kumiko stared at him, stunned.  Then the words sank in.  “Hey!  Cut it out, Sawada.  She has her reasons.  The yakuza are hated all around—”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Fujiyama snapped.  “I’m the one who was wronged!”  She stabbed a finger right into Kumiko’s nose.  “You pretended not to know who my knight-sama was!  How dare you?”

Kumiko stared at her in shock.  “ _What_?”

“The poster said that you were from the Kuroda family.  Those were the guys who saved me.  My knight-sama was one of them and you played dumb!”

“B-but that was because I was hiding my background,” Kumiko said.

“There’s no point in hiding it from me, is there?” Fujiyama snapped.  “Especially after everything I said about wanting to meet my knight-sama!”  She leaned forward until her nose was nearly touching Kumiko’s.  “You traitor!”

Kumiko opened and closed her mouth a couple of times.  “So… you’re mad at me… because…”

“Because you didn’t tell me about my knight-sama, of course!”

There was a very long, very awkward pause.

“It doesn’t sound like she cares who your family is, does it?” Sawada asked.

He’d been very nice to her today, so Kumiko restrained herself from punching him in the stomach.

“Anyway,” Fujiyama said brightly.  “Now you can introduce me to my knight-sama, right?  I’m free right after school.”

Kumiko’s body clenched up in sheer horror at the suggestion.  “N-no.  No, let’s not do that.”

Fujiyama frowned.  “Why?”

Sawada frowned.  “What’s with all of this “knight-sama” business?”

Kumiko whimpered.

Fujiyama won the argument, of course.  Today of all days, Kumiko wasn’t going to deny Fujiyama anything.

Plus, she had a sneaking suspicion that Fujiyama’s backup plan was to go to Tenkai.  That would just be embarrassing for everyone.

Fujiyama had insisted that she couldn’t meet her knight-sama while dressed in work clothes, so Kumiko walked her to her apartment to get changed.  For some reason Sawada decided to tag along and they waited on the street in front of the building, Kumiko bemoaning what a terrible idea this was and Sawada making non-committal noises.

Less than ten minutes later, Fujiyama was back wearing a spaghetti-strap shirt and the shortest mini-skirt Kumiko had ever seen.

“I’m ready!” Fujiyama sang out.  “Thanks for waiting!”

“We weren’t waiting long,” Kumiko pointed out.

“Let’s go!” Fujiyama said with palpable enthusiasm.

Kumiko sighed.  “I appreciate your persistence, but you’re going to be really disappointed.  Your knight-sama is a middle-aged pervert with bad taste.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Fujiyama said and started walking.

Unfortunately she was walking in the right direction to get to Kumiko’s house.  Kumiko scowled.

Sawada leaned over.  “Just humor her.  She’ll never let it go until she meets him.”

Kumiko transferred her scowl to him.  “Why are you even here?”

“Because the knight-sama with a delicate heart has to be Kyou-san, right?”  Sawada grinned.  “No way am I missing that meeting.”

“You’re enjoying this,” Kumiko growled, stomping after Fujiyama.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sawada answered, easily keeping pace with her.  She had a fond flashback to a year ago, when he’d barely been able to keep up.  He’d grown a lot since then.

She nudged him in the arm, and ignored his quiet “ow”.  “You’re a good kid, Sawada.”

There was no reply.  Kumiko glanced over to see Sawada staring straight ahead, his features frozen in a blank mask.  Clearly she’d upset him.

Thinking back over her words, she grimaced.  “I mean… you’re a good man.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled, but he kept his eyes forward and his expression blank.

Kumiko opened her mouth, then closed it again.  Teenage boys could be touchy about becoming men.  Anything else she said would bring more attention to her faux pas.

So, instead, she called out, “Fujiyama-sense!  Do you want to walk the whole way or take the train?”

Everyone looked at Fujiyama’s stylish stiletto heels.

“Train it is!” Kumiko said brightly.

~~~

While the train meant less walking, it also meant a longer trip, especially since they just missed the train that Kumiko usually caught on her way home.  As they stood on the platform – pointedly ignoring all of the looks that Fujiyama’s outfit was attracting – Kumiko asked, “Have you thought about what you want to say to him?”

Next to her, Sawada smiled.  Kumiko gave herself a silent pat on the back.

Fujiyama beamed.  “Of course!”  She launched into a recital of gushing praise for Kyou’s kindness and beauty and after five seconds of drivel, Kumiko had to block out her hearing to save her sanity.

Sawada had a hand over his mouth and his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

 _Asshole_ , she thought fondly.

Fujiyama’s monologue carried them through the train ride and most of the way to Kumiko’s house.  Kumiko was seriously considering ritual suicide when she finally saw her roof.  “Here we are!” she said loudly, pointing at her house.

“Oh!” Fujiyama said.  “It’s nice.  I can see why you decided not to move closer to Shirokin.”

Kumiko started to lie on instinct, then remembered: Fujiyama knew the truth.  “Actually, I’m very close to my family.  I didn’t want to leave them behind.”

Fujiyama smiled.  “That’s sweet.”

Kumiko smiled back and glanced at Sawada, who was looking pensive.  “Ready?” she asked, even though it was clear that the only person who wasn’t ready was her.

She took a deep breath, girded her loins, and then opened the door to the ima.

Inside, she caught Kyou just finishing up some sort of lecture on manly strength.  Before she could announce her presence, Kyou stood up and dropped his pants.

Kumiko stared at him, frozen in open-mouthed horror, as he tied a rope around his ass.  Standing tall, he flexed his glutes and the rope snapped under the pressure of his muscles.

Tetsu and Minoru, who were apparently the recipients of this demonstration, fell over in admiration for the tightness of Kyou’s ass.

Out of the corners of her eyes, Kumiko could see Sawada laughing again.  On her other side, Fujiyama was taking in the spectacle with wide eyes.

Forcing her attention forward, Kumiko shouted, “Kyou-san!  What the _hell_ are you doing?”

“Ojou!” Kyou said, pulling up his pants.  “Welcome home!”  He looked up from fastening his trousers.  “Oh, you brought the Booby Teacher.  Hello.”

Behind her, Kumiko heard Wakamatsu enter the room and whisper to Sawada, “Is it okay to bring her here?”

Sawada murmured back, “She already found out.”

Kumiko wondered when her family had gotten so comfortable turning to Sawada for information.  For that matter, when had Sawada gotten so comfortable in helping the yakuza?

Her attention was pulled away from the curious question of Sawada when Fujiyama bowed, causing every male eye in the room to swing directly to Fujiyama’s chest.  “Thank you very much for rescuing me from the Black Cross gang,” Fujiyama said.

Kyou gibbered for a few seconds before he was able to drag his eyes back up to Fujiyama’s face.  “…you’re welcome.”

Fujiyama beamed back.

“Huh,” Sawada said.  “She doesn’t seem disappointed at all.”

“I..I mean... it can’t be, right?”  How could Fujiyama look at Kyou and see the delicate beauty that she’d spent an entire train ride describing to Kumiko?

Fujiyama leaned back.  “So?”

“So?” Kumiko repeated dubiously.  “What do you mean?”

“So where’s my knight-sama?”

Sawada burst out laughing.

Kumiko covered her face and sighed.  Without looking up, she pointed at Kyou.

“No,” Fujiyama breathed.

Sawada laughed harder.

“I did try to tell you,” Kumiko pointed out.

“But…”  She glanced at the guys, who were still staring at her breasts.  “Well.  Thank you for giving me the chance to thank my rescuers.  I’ll be off!”

She turned on one stiletto heel and left.  Kumiko started after her, but Sawada tapped her on the shoulder.  “I’ll make sure she gets back.”

Kumiko eyed him narrowly.

“After all,” he added.  “You should explain what just happened to Kyou-san.”

With another bark of laughter, he left.

Kumiko turned back to the room to find all of the guys staring at the door.  “He’s taking her home, huh?” Kyou asked.  “Good man.”  To the rest of the group he added, “Okay!  Time to work on our muscles!”

Kumiko just shook her head.


	22. Enter Uesugi Ritsu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Either Kozueko Morimoto forgot what she(?) named her Austrian student or there was some translation error in the scanslation. At any rate, the guy named Richard in volume 10 was introduced to us as Michael in the school festival arc and Michael he shall remain in this adaptation.
> 
> Also, as always, thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

Things quieted down after the whole Fujiyama reveal.  Frankly there was a lot less action going on in third year than there had been in second year.

Emotionally, it was a different story.  How could Yamaguchi be so _frustrating_?  One moment she was actively seeking him out when she was distressed, the next she was calling him a kid.  A _kid_!

Okay, so that one still smarted a bit.  Intellectually, he knew that Yamaguchi saw him as more than a kid, as more than a _student_ , even if she herself wasn’t aware of it.  That was a long way from viewing him as a potential romantic partner, though, and Shin wasn’t sure how to change her perspective.

He was still mulling over this problem when he showed up at school to find a couple of police officers lurking around.  Keeping his face neutral, he immediately went up to the roof to pick up some gossip.

Sure enough, everyone was talking about the taxi driver who had been bashed the night before.  Apparently a Shirokin student notebook had been found next to the assaulted man.

Shin found that suspicious in and of itself – most Shirokin students weren’t in the habit of carrying their notebooks (or, in fact, any form of schoolwork) out of the school.  “Did anyone actually see the assault?”

The boys looked at each other for a few seconds, before one hesitantly raised his hand.  It took Shin a second to place him: Okamura from second year.  “You saw the bashing?”

“Not exactly,” Okamura said.  “But I was near there when people started shouting and I saw a group of guys running away from the scene.  I recognized one of them.”

Everyone was following the story closely now.  When Okamura hesitated, Noda pressed, “Who did you see?”

“This guy who lives in my neighborhood, called Hayashizaki.”  Okamura hesitated again before adding.  “He’s a third year at Aotama.”

“Holy shit,” Minami breathed.

Shin agreed with the sentiment.  Aotama was an elite school that fed the best and the brightest to all of the top universities in Japan.  Half the students there went on to Tokyo University and it was estimated that one in every ten lawyers in the country had attended Aotama.

And, not that it mattered, it was the school Shin’s brother graduated from.  It was the school Shin had been slated to attend before the shoving incident with his junior high teacher.

All of which meant that, even if Okamura was right and this Hayashizaki was somehow involved in a beating, it was going to be next to impossible to get anyone to believe them. 

Well, almost impossible.  “We need to talk to Yamaguchi.”

It was a sign of how far everyone had come in the last year and a half that no one questioned _why_ he was getting a teacher.  They just followed him downstairs and waited in the classroom while Shin went into the staff office.

There he found Yamaguchi squaring off with the weird foreign exchange student, Michael.  She didn’t seem to be getting very far; Michael’s Japanese really hadn’t improved much in the months he’d been living in the country.

“Yamaguchi,” Shin said quietly. 

She immediately turned to him.  “Yeah?”

“Is this about the bashing?”

She looked at him suspiciously.  “Yes.”

“One of the guys saw something.”

She nodded and turned back.  “Michael… you need to find some better friends.  And, for God’s sake, stop peeping on girls in swimsuits!”

Shin bit his lip to hide a smile and walked down the hallway.  He barely made it a step before Yamaguchi caught up.  “Who was the witness?  What’d he see?”

“I’ll let him tell you about it.”

He was gratified that she just nodded her acceptance and followed him up to the classroom without question.

Okamura repeated his story for Yamaguchi.  She got really hung up on the whole Aotama angle, which Shin hadn’t expected and as she harped over the amazing statistics of the school, Shin found himself getting pissed off.

“The school doesn’t matter,” Shin cut in.  “Every school has its share of bad people.”

He turned on his heel and stalked off.

~~~

Math class was quiet that day.  Shin had considered skipping, but Yamaguchi had been right that he was skipping too many classes.  This far into his last year of school, Shin didn’t think his father would bother trying to force Shin into a transfer, but the possibility wasn’t worth the risk.

After school, his friends pulled Shin to the roof and revealed Yamaguchi’s ridiculous plan to infiltrate Aotama.  Shin just sighed.

Then Kuma opened his mouth.  “And then she said—”

His voice was cut off by Noda’s hand.  Shin stared at them warily, then looked at Ucchi and Minami, who had suspiciously innocent looks on their faces.  “What?”

“Nothing!” Ucchi said quickly.

“Just Yankumi fooling around,” Minami added.

Ah.  One of Yamaguchi’s favorite jokes was teasing that her students loved her.  Shin could only imagine how that had gone over with his friends.

Shin was glad he hadn’t been there to hear it in person.  Even second hand, those jokes were starting to sting.

~~~

The next day, Yamaguchi was gone in the afternoon for a “research trip”.  Shirokin didn’t bother with substitutes, so everyone just messed around on the roof.  That’s where Yamaguchi found them.  “Guys, I have information!”

She told them about meeting a super-elite student called Uesugi Ritsu: handsome, academically gifted, president of the student council, and a clear leader of the other students.  “I think he’s involved.  We heard Hayashizaki talking to some other students.  His words were vague, but they could’ve been about the assault and Uesugi shut him down immediately.”

“Student council president, huh?” Noda said.  “Give me a minute.”  He ran inside.

Yamaguchi watched him go and then turned back to the other students.  “So how did you do on the worksheets I left behind?”

The resulting jeering was at least somewhat affectionate, Shin thought.  As a distraction, he asked back, “What did you think of Aotama?”

Yamaguchi’s eyebrows lifted and she dropped down to sit next to Ucchi.  “It was like going to another world.  No graffiti, no fighting, everyone wearing their uniform.”  She looked around the group.  Everyone was wearing their uniform pants and a couple were wearing dress shirts, but not a single person was wearing the jacket.  “I was shown a class where everyone was conversing in perfect English, a debate class holding a mock trial, and a math class practicing calculus.”

“What’s calculus?” Kuma asked.

“Even their sports teams were good,” Yamaguchi finished.

“So they’re perfect,” Shin said flatly.

“They’re…”  Yamaguchi looked like she was having trouble finding the right word.  Everyone stared at her closely, waiting for her verdict.  Would she say they were elite?  Ideal?  The kind of student every teacher wishes to teach?

“—weird,” Yamaguchi finally said.  “They were weird.  And I don’t know what those teachers are doing, but if Aotama boys are behind this assault, then their teachers are doing a lousy job of teaching the things that really matter.”

Shin’s shoulders, which had tightened up painfully, abruptly relaxed.  All around him, his friends were grinning at Yamaguchi like she was their favorite treat and their favorite holiday rolled up in one.

The roof door burst open and Noda came running out.  “I got some info on Aotama’s student council.  Uesugi, Hirota, Ejima, and Inoue are the members.  They’re the top four students when ranked by grades.  All third years except for Inoue, who is a second year.”

“No Hayashizaki?” Minami asked.

“He must be an errand boy,” Noda answered.

“I don’t like this,” Ucchi said grimly.

Kuma looked uncertain.  “Do you really think these are the guys who bashed that taxi driver?”

“I can’t prove it,” Yamaguchi said.  “But this Uesugi Ritsu guy is too perfect.  It bothers me.”

She wasn’t the only one.  Everyone was quiet as they walked downstairs and went their separate ways.

~~~

That night, Kuma was arrested.

~~~

“I’m so lucky,” Kuma said as they walked away from the police station the next morning.  His voice was shaky.  “If the convenience store clerk hadn’t come forward as a witness, I’d be in jail right now.”

“I’m still not sure I get the timeline,” Noda said.  “Some old guy got knocked out, his wallet was stolen, and then you got knocked out and the wallet was at your feet?  And then there was a cop right there?  How does that make sense?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Ucchi said.

“Unless he was framed,” Shin said.  Everyone turned to look at him.  “Yamaguchi thinks Uesugi was trying to get her attention.”

“By framing Kuma?” Minami asked incredulously.  “What an asshole!”

“If it’s true, Yankumi will make him sorry he was ever born,” Ucchi said confidently.

Kuma looked nervous.  “Do you think she’s going to get in trouble?”

“Shit,” Shin said, realizing he’d been an idiot.  He took off running.

~~~

The guys tried to keep up, but he outstripped them in less than a mile.  Shin was grateful; this was not a situation in which they could help.

He was also grateful for the number of times he’d gone to Aotama to walk home with his brother, back when they were still the best of friends.  They’d made a game of finding a different way home every time and Shin knew every possible shortcut to Aotama.  Between that and his daily runs, he was able to get to the school at almost the same time as Yamaguchi.  He tried calling for her to stop, but she ignored him so, putting on a last burst of speed that made his lungs ache, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to a stop.  “Wait,” he gasped.

“Let go!” Yamaguchi shouted, not even sounding winded.  “I’m not going to forgive the guy who framed Kuma!”

“Of course not,” Shin wheezed.  “But you’ll never get him without proof.  If you go in there and start busting heads, they’ll call the police.”

Yamaguchi stared at him, her expression radiating internal conflict.  “Fine!” she said, yanking her arm free.  She let out a breath.  “Shit.”

“Why do you always have to rush into things like this?” Shin asked, allowing himself to lean over to gasp for air now that the danger to Yamaguchi had passed.  “Thank God I followed you.”

Yamaguchi growled under her breath and stared at the school.  “But how the hell are we going to get proof?”

Shin ran his eyes over the students.  One was wearing a shame flag, similar to the one that the guys used to make Inuzuka wear.  “What about him?” he said, nodding at the kid.

“Perfect,” Yamaguchi said.  “Grab him!”

Shin thought about protesting, but reconsidered when he imagined the uproar that would be caused by a female adult dragging a schoolboy into a secluded alley.  Heaving the sigh of the put-upon, Shin went out and dragged the boy around the side of the building himself, dropping him to sit on a concrete divider next to the bike racks.

“What do you want?” the boy asked, looking frantic with fear.

“Calm down,” Yamaguchi said.  “We’re not going to hurt you.”

The boy immediately started to calm down, probably because Yamaguchi was barely five feet and probably weighed less than a hundred pounds.  The fact that she could beat a guy twice her weight into a bloody smear wasn’t something that was apparent to someone who had never seen her in action.

“Okay,” Shin said when the boy looked safely over his panic attack.  “What’s with the flag?”

The boy’s shoulders immediately hunched up.  “I…I…”  He dropped his head and wailed, “I committed an unforgivable sin!”

Shin exchanged a glance with Yamaguchi.

“What did you do?” she asked warily.

“I went to school with dog crap on the hem of my pants!”

They waited for more.  When nothing followed, Yamaguchi asked, “That’s it?”

“I’m a disgrace,” the boy sobbed.  “As a student of Aotama and as a human being!  I forced a horrible smell on everyone for a whole day!”

“Uh… don’t worry.  That’s really not a big deal.” Yamaguchi said.

“No,” the boy sniffed.  “It’s all over for me.”  He stood up and slunk in the direction of the school, dejection in every step.

“Wow,” Yamaguchi said, watching him go.  “This place is really strict.  I can’t believe they make a fuss over a little bit of dog crap.”

“Whatever,” Shin said, though secretly he was grateful all over again that he ended up at Shirokin instead of this absurd hellhole.

“At any rate, at least we learned something valuable,” Yamaguchi said, starting back down the road in the direction of Shirokin.

Shin caught up and looked at her skeptically.  “We did?”

“Yes!  I have the perfect plan to put the screws to Uesugi.”

“Uh-huh,” Shin said doubtfully.

She told him the plan.  It was, as expected, awful.  Shin thought about begging off – frankly, even thinking about the plan was a little embarrassing – but the thought was a fleeting one.  There was no way he’d miss a second of alone time with Yamaguchi.  Hell, it was the closest he came to dating.  Some days it felt like the closest he’d _ever_ come to dating.

Which was how he ended up lurking around the corner from Aotama the next morning, in the company of a wayward homeroom teacher and an enormous dog.  Yamaguchi was talking to Fuji like she really thought he understood what she was saying and Shin was keeping an eye out for their quarry.

“There he is,” Shin said, as Uesugi Ritsu came into sight.

“Okay,” Yamaguchi told Fuji.  “Just like I said.”

Even with all of the crazy things Shin had seen around Yamaguchi, he was still a little stunned to see Fuji walked out onto the street, just like he’d understood exactly what Yamaguchi had told him.

Fuji paused on the sidewalk in front of Uesugi and looked him up and down.  Uesugi looked a little unnerved and Yamaguchi snickered.  “Look at him.  He’s all nervous.”

“Of course he is,” Shin pointed out.  “Fuji weighs almost as much as Uesugi does.”

At that moment, Fuji lifted his tail, squatted, and started to push.

And he pushed.

And he pushed.

Seconds passed.  Fuji started to tremble from the strain.  Uesugi lost his nervous look and walked around Fuji.

“Damn it,” Yamaguchi said under her breath.  She glanced down the street – leaning over Shin’s shoulder in the process, and _shit_ he thought, if it was anyone else, feeling her stomach brushing against the corner of his shoulder would be giving him _ideas_ – and hissed, “Too late!” at Fuji.

Fuji stopped straining and his tail dropped down between his legs.

Yamaguchi did not look appeased.  “I told you to do it before he passed!”

Fuji hunched up, looking dejected.

“Hey,” Shin said, taking pity.  “Don’t be so hard on him.  He tried his best.”

Yamaguchi sighed and gave Fuji a quick pat on the head before turning to the school.  “If only that had worked, we could have damaged his reputation.”

Shin let out an exasperated huff.  “I still don’t think you could have gotten him to actually step in the dog shit.”

Yamaguchi didn’t answer, her face caught up in a thoughtful expression.

Oh, shit.  Shin knew that expression.  That expression was a _bad_ expression.  “You know, I think I’m going to go,” he said, turning to hurry away.

“Wait!” Yamaguchi shouted.

Shin stopped and hung his head.

“I have an amazing plan for next time!”

Shin sighed.

“Are you free tonight?” she asked.

Shin weighed more time alone with Yamaguchi against having to clean up whatever mess came out of this new plan.

Oh, who was he kidding?  He’d be cleaning up the mess either way.  “I guess.”

“Great!  I’ll pick you up at your apartment at seven!”

With that she ran off in the direction of school.  Shin thought about following her, but if they both arrived late there would be questions asked, at least among Shin’s friends.  Instead he stared at Aotama for several minutes, imagining how his life would be different if he’d ended up following his father’s planned path.

It was with a great sense of satisfaction that he turned his back on the too clean, too pretty building and wandered back home.


	23. Consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to CappuccettoRosso for helping this chapter come together!

It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Uesugi’s attention had been focused on the most vulnerable of Kumiko’s students, the ones that she had a limited ability to protect.  Sawada, on the other hand, was the son of the police chief, the star pupil of Shirokin High School, had stayed out of trouble for over a year (at least as far as the police knew), and was fully capable of taking care of himself both physically and intellectually.

Kumiko had known that she’d riled Uesugi up when she threw Sawada’s Aotama acceptance in Uesugi’s face.  She’d counted on it.  Best case scenario, Uesugi went after Sawada and found himself totally destroyed by a combination of Sawada’s devious mind and merciless father.

Worst case scenario…

Kumiko swallowed hard, staring at the frantic quartet of teenagers in front of her.  She’d been so, so wrong about the worst case scenario.  “Did you say Sawada was abducted… by the yakuza?  Why?”

“I don’t know!” Minami shouted back.  “Some yakuza assholes grabbed one of the first years and forced Shin to come to the gate!’

“Then they beat Shin up and dragged him away,” Ucchi added.

“Shit!” Yamaguchi shouted.  The boys gawked at her, but she couldn’t say anything to them.  She couldn’t tell them she was yakuza.  She couldn’t tell them this was her fault.

“Shit,” she said with quiet vehemence and sprinted for the door, ignoring the boys behind her, shouting her name.

Her first, wild instinct was to visit every family in the city.  After striking out at both of her first two stops, she realized the utter futility of this plan.  Even if she knew every single family in the city – and that was impossible, with small groups starting up and/or failing nearly every day – there was every chance that Sawada had been taken by rogue elements, either as part of a power play at the top or dumbass newbies at the bottom trying to catch the attention of their superiors.  She could run all day without hearing a word of Sawada’s fate and in the meantime…

In the meantime…

Kumiko wobbled as her knees turned to jelly and she knelt right there on the sidewalk outside Tenkai’s door.  With shaking hands, she pulled out her cell phone.  It took three tries to dial.

“Grandpa,” she whispered when that warm, familiar voice answered her call.  “Grandpa, please… help me.”  She drew in a shaky breath.  “Grandpa… I lost him.”

~~~

With the entire Kuroda family – plus all of their allies – out searching for Sawada, Kumiko regained enough strength to continue searching on her own.  Starting at the school and working outward, she visited every shady alley, warehouse, and gambling den, bursting in with furious questions and leaving shell-shocked yakuza in her wake.  She was on her seventh stop when her phone rang.  “Grandpa?”

“We found him,” Grandpa said.

Kumiko’s breath left her in a soft sob and she leaned back against the wall next to her.  “Oh my God.  Is he okay?”

“He was being beaten,” Grandpa said.  “We’re not sure why.”

Kumiko squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears trickle down her cheeks.  “This can’t happen again.”

“I agree,” Grandpa said.  “I think it’s time we sent a message.  Kyou is on his way to pick you up.”

“Okay,” Kumiko said, sliding down the wall.  “Okay.  I’ll be ready.”

She hung up and bowed her head.  Twenty seconds.  She’d take twenty seconds to get her shit together.

Ten seconds.

Five.

She took a deep breath and pushed out all of her fear and guilt in a loud gush of air, leaving nothing behind but rage.  Standing up, she swiped the tears from her cheeks and strode to the nearest intersection.

Whoever took her student, they would be sorry.  And this would _never_ happen again.

~~~

It was Tanukibara.  _Tanukibara_.  Kumiko thought back to the smiling old man who had overseen her omiai and felt like screaming.  Clearly the old man had died too soon, if this was the quality of his successor.

None of this showed on her face, however, as she strode into the Tanukibara’s offices, just step behind Grandpa and side-by-side with Kyou.  All three of them were emitting a killing aura and the handful of Tanukibara higher ups immediately broke out into a sweat and started bowing.

Apologies and accusations broke out among the men, but a flash of red caught Kumiko’s eye and all of the noise around her sank into the background at the sight of Sawada’s prone body lying on the floor.  She shouted his name and ran over to him, dropping to her knees to pull his body up onto her lap as she felt for a pulse.

Behind her, the volume of the apologies and accusations rose alarmingly.

It took a couple of tries – damn her shaking hands – but his pulse was strong and regular and, when she’d recovered a bit of calm, she realized that his chest was rising and falling with his breathing.  He was alive.  Unconscious, but alive.

Her initial panic fading, the conversation around her solidified into words.  “Whadda ya mean he came and hit you from behind?” Kyou snapped.  “Red Lion wouldn’t do something like that?”

“But he said he was Sawada Shin from Shirkokin!”  This from a burly guy with a mohawk.

“They lied,” Kumiko said and the room went silent as a grave.  “And I have a rough idea of who it was.”

Mohawk bowed.  “I’m so sorry!” he wailed.

Kumiko gritted her teeth.  On the one hand, she wanted to blame him, because what kind of idiot actually fell for a trap as stupid as this one had been.  On the other hand… “No,” she finally said.  “It’s my fault.  I used him as a decoy.”  No matter how reliable Sawada had been, she should have never put him in this kind of situation.  She should never have put him in danger.

Well, she’d learned her lesson now.  No more clever plans.  No more tricks.  Time to get direct.

~~~

Once Sawada had been reluctantly handed over to Kyou to be taken to the hospital – with strict instructions that Kuroda would be picking up the bill – the plan came together quickly.  It was a little silly, but they were dealing with teenage boys – not even very intelligent teenage boys.  From everything Kumiko had learned thus far, the only person with any brains in the group was Uesugi.

It turned out Uesugi had not been part of the group that had assaulted Mohawk guy and his friends.  In retrospect, this made sense.  Uesugi was too smart to get his own hands dirty.  Still, it created an opportunity for Kumiko – while she may not be able to take down Uesugi directly, she could strip him of his henchmen and, as a consequence, most of his power.

With the chastised Tanukibara men sent off to collect the offending Aotama students, Kumiko hurried back to the car.  She needed to get to a beauty salon, stat.

~~~

It took longer than she wanted to get dolled up like a stereotypical yakuza woman, and between the stiletto heels and the fur coat, she was ready to die of overheated discomfort before she even made it to the dock.  Fortunately she had regular reports from Mohawk’s guys to keep her motivated – apparently they’d been using the extra time well, putting the fear of the yakuza into the Aotama boys with a series of increasingly terrifying death threats.  With props.

Kumiko smiled ruefully.  They were definitely going the extra mile to make up for kidnapping Sawada.

Between the stress about Sawada, the frantic running around all day, and the horrifically uncomfortable makeup, fur coat, heels, and super-long earrings, Kumiko was actually shaking from the effort of maintaining her badass pose as she strutted around the corner of the dock, lit a cigarette, and drawled, “Are you the ones who hurt my boys?”

The teenagers stared at her in shock.

Since they weren’t providing any help at all in this scene, she forged ahead.  “Clearly you shitty brats were the ones causing trouble on our turf!  Before we get rid of you, I need to know something.  Did you think you were playing the part of the hero?”

“Uh,” one boy said, his voice shaking.  “We… we thought we were… doing it for the sake of everyone?”

“We punished them for others,” a second boy said, sounding a little more confident.  “For everyone who’s been bothered by Shirokin students but who couldn’t do anything about it.”

“Punished them?”  Kumiko strode forward until she was standing next to one of the movie prop barrels the Tanukibara guys had brought in.  “ _Who do you think you are?_ ” she shouted at the top of her lungs.  “If a man’s got a problem, he has to face it head on!  You’ve got no right to go around “punishing” people by hitting them from behind!”  She swung her leg to the right and slammed one heel into the barrel.  It shattered, just as it was designed to do.

Her coat fell off in the process, but Kumiko opted to let it be.  It had served its purpose, anyway.  The four Aotama students looked terrified to the point of fainting.

“And!” she shouted, stepping a little closer just to enjoy the way the boys flinched back.  “On top of that, you’re pinning the crime on someone else!  Are you really proud of that?”

The boys fell all over themselves apologizing and swearing that they wouldn’t do it again.  Kumiko believed them.  Two of the boys were crying and one looked like he might’ve pissed himself.

Just in case, though, she lowered her voice to a snarl.  “Just remember: you do this again, my boys will drown you in the ocean.”  She kicked out and shattered another barrel and one of the teenagers squeaked and fell over in a dead faint.

Good enough.  Kumiko straightened her spine and strode out of there, making sure she was out of sight before she let herself hobble over to the side of the building.

Goddamn these shoes!  How did anyone wear heels?

~~~

On the advice of Grandpa, Kumiko waited a couple of days before going back to Aotama for a talk with Uesugi, to make sure that there had been time for Uesugi’s henchmen to inform him that they were quitting.

It also gave Kumiko a couple of days to calm down.  If she went in and started throwing punches, Uesugi would win.  She had to remain cool during this confrontation.

With that in mind, Kumiko stopped a good block away from Aotama after sprinting from Shirokin, to catch her breath and to scope out the school.  Just like the other times she’d visited Aotama after school, she found that students trickled out at a much slower rate than they did at Shirokin – most of the student body apparently participated in after-school extracurriculars.

As she watched, Uesugi walked out the front door and settled on a bench in front of the school to read.

Kumiko forced herself to wait several minutes before sneaking around the building so she could come up behind Uesugi.  She moved as silently as she knew how, hoping to put Uesugi off his game.  “You seem calm as usual.”

To her disappointment, Uesugi didn’t seem at all surprised at her voice.  “Yamaguchi-sensei.  Should you be here all by yourself?”

Kumiko raised her eyebrows.  Pretty ballsy of him to threaten her.  Probably trying to goad her, the asshole.  “And how are your underlings?”

He looked back at her coolly.  “I’m not sure what you mean by “underlings”, but if you mean Hirota and that group – they all seem to have gotten a fright.  Hayashizaki is taking some time off school.  Everyone else has been well behaved.”  He leaned forward, cool as a cucumber.  “Guess something must have happened to them.”

Kumiko scowled.  She couldn’t see his face when he was leaning forward like that, which put her at a disadvantage.  Of course, moving so that she could see his face would also put her at a disadvantage, because it meant he was dictating her movements.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t see an alternative, so she moved until she was standing in front of Uesugi.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Sounds like they got their just desserts.”

Uesugi gave a casual shrug.  “I guess.  Sounds like they did something terrible.”

Kumiko’s temper started to boil.  “You say that like you didn’t order them to do it.”

“I didn’t order anything,” Uesugi said calmly.  “I mean, I was bored at one point, so I might’ve said – as a joke – that it would be nice to clean up the city’s vermin.  How would I know they’d take it seriously and do it.”

Kumiko gaped at the sheer gall of him.  “What…”

“Of course, I understand their feelings.  There are many people who would best benefit this world by just disappearing.  For example, the students of Shirokin.”

Kumiko’s blood began to boil.

“As long as we can be useful cleaning up the riff-raff, the students of Aotama High will have a reason to exist.”

“You asshole!” Kumiko shouted, grabbing Uesugi’s jacket and pulling her other hand back into a fist.

A hand grabbed her wrist and Kumiko froze.

Looking over, she saw Sawada standing there, holding her arm.  “…Sawada,” she breathed.

“Don’t you get it?” Sawada snarled.  “He’s saying this shit to get you to do something violent!”  He gestured at the school, where several faces could be seen staring out the windows.  “If you hit him now, you’re doing exactly what he wants you to do!”

“Hm,” Uesugi said, still utterly calm, despite Kumiko’s fist in his jacket.  “I guess there is someone at Shirokin with a brain after all.”

Kumiko swore loudly and let Uesugi go.  “I won’t forget this,” she growled.  “Some day I’ll meet you in a dark alley and only one of us will be walking out again.”

She turned and stalked away.

She’d managed less than half a mile before Sawada caught up with her.  “I told you to stay out of my business!” she snapped at him.  “What are you even doing here?  You’re still injured!”

“I’m here to save you from yourself,” Sawada said dryly.

Kumiko narrowed her eyes at him, but she couldn’t exactly argue that he was wrong.  She turned to glare back in the direction of Aotama.  “That asshole thinks that everyone other than himself is an idiot.”

Sawada made a noncommittal noise.

Kumiko huffed out and irritated breath.  “Whatever.  I guess even I have to admit that there are just some people you can’t save.”

“You don’t believe that,” Sawada said, setting off in the direction of Kumiko’s house.  She frowned at him, but decided that it was closer than the train station.  She’d get someone to give him a ride home.

“I do believe that,” she told him firmly.  ‘That guy will never become a decent person.”

At that point a car pulled up next to them.  The window rolled down to reveal Kyou.  “What a coincidence!” he said.  “It looks like you need a ride and I just happen to be here.”

Kumiko stared at him a moment and then looked at Sawada, who was shaking his head with an exasperated look on his face.

“How convenient,” she said suspiciously.  “But…” she glanced at Sawada, who had started to limp.  “I guess we could use a ride.”

Sawada immediately started toward the back seat, leaving the passenger side for Kumiko.  She got in and decided to ignore the fact that Sawada’s jacket was already in the car when Sawada got in.

As they drove back into town, Kumiko let her mind wander.  She needed a new plan, something clever enough to beat Uesugi at his own game.

And this time?  They were going to _win_.


	24. The Revenge!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta!

For the first few days after pulling Yamaguchi off that asshole at Aotama, Shin warily waited to find out what Yamaguchi’s next disastrous plan would be. Fortunately everyone at school knew he’d been grabbed by the yakuza this time, so he was able to attend classes – and, more importantly, keep an eye on Yamaguchi – while he healed.

Except…nothing happened. His bruises faded, his split lip closed up, his kidneys healed to the point where he stopped pissing blood and… nothing. Nothing from Uesugi, nothing from Yamaguchi, _nothing_.

After a couple of weeks of nothing, Shin finally let his guard down. This was clearly a mistake, because it meant Yamaguchi was able to catch him by surprise at his apartment.

“Hi!” she said in a loud, suspiciously perky voice. “How are you doing? Doing good? Of course you are! Don’t mind me, I brought sushi! Sushi!”

Shin narrowed his eyes. “Are you drunk?”

She barged her way in – _without_ answering Shin’s question, he noticed. The box of sushi got shoved in his hands and he eyed it warily as Yamaguchi looked around. “What a neat place for a teenager! I’m impressed!” She darted to the bed and looked underneath. “What? No porn?”

Shin sighed and set the sushi aside.

“Oh, look!” Yamaguchi looked out his window. “It’s getting chilly out there!”

“All right,” Shin said flatly. “What did you do?”

Yamaguchi froze, and her shoulders dropped. When she turned around from the window, she looked embarrassed. “Weeeell… I might have thrown a challenge at Uesugi. A formal challenge.”

Shin raised an eyebrow. “A formal challenge?”

“Written and everything.”

“And what, exactly, was the challenge?”

Yamaguchi winced and dropped down to sit on his bed. “Um… that you would rank higher than him in the National Exams.”

Shin gaped at her. “ _What?_ But he’s always been first in the country!”

“Well, yes, but it’s not like it’s impossible.”

“ _Of course it’s impossible!_ ” Shin shouted. He dropped down next to her on the bed. Any other time this might’ve been a fraught moment for him, but he was too horrified to even think of sex. “I haven’t studied once since I came to Shirokin!”

“Yeah, but you’re still top of the class.”

“It’s an entirely different level!” He buried his head in his hands. “You keep telling me to stay out of your business. Well, this is your business. Why do I have to do anything with it?”

She sighed and stood up to pace around the room. “Think about it. If you’d gone to Aotama, you would’ve been classmates with Uesugi, right?”

“…right,” Shin said warily.

“And if you were there, you wouldn’t let yourself lose to a guy like him, would you?”

“Probably not,” Shin said, still wary.

“So, we can’t let him win, can we? And there’s nothing we can do to him physically. The only way to beat him is by studying!”

“Oh, for the love of… No!”

“Don’t worry!” she said. “I have a good plan for this!” She leaned in and he got caught up in the enthusiasm in her eyes. “I’ll put in a lot of effort for you.”

“Uh, you don’t need to do that…” he said, distracted.

She grinned at him. “Perfect! I’ll get started.”

“Wait, what? I mean, no! N—goddamn it, you’re gone.” Shin grabbed a pillow and held it over his face.

With any luck, he’d be able to suffocate himself.

~~~

Sadly, he did not manage to off himself and thus he was alive, albeit napping, when the doorbell rang the next day. Shin eyed the door warily before getting up to answer it.

A shifty-looking man with facial scars, a hideous suit, and a black shirt stood on the other side. “Good evening!” the man said in English.

“Uh… who are you?”

“My name is Mr. Lee,” Mr. Lee said, still in English. “I was asked to come here by the Kuroda’s Ojou-san. I am an English tutor.”

Shin groaned. “A tutor.”

“Actually, until a few years ago, I was going back and forth between Hong Kong and Manila undertaking… negotiations, if you will. I was selected for that role because of the quality of my English skills.”

“Uh-huh.” Shin considered him. “Mr. Lee, huh? Are you Chinese?”

“Not at all! My real name is Morooka Shigeru. I’m Japanese! Though I was living in Hong Kong and… wait, did I say that part already?”

“I think I’ve heard enough,” Shin said flatly. “Please go home.”

~~~

An hour later, there was another doorbell. This time the man was old and bald and he looked very confused. Shin frowned. “…did you get the wrong door?” he offered.

“I was asked by Kumiko Ojou-san to be the young master’s tutor.”

Shin gaped at him.

“I once practiced Western literature at the Emperor’s court! After that I came to work as the town doctor in Kamiyama.”

“…did you get a medical license first?”

The old man looked about vaguely. If this had been Yamaguchi’s doctor, it might explain how weird she was – this old guy had probably dropped her on her head. A lot. “Okay, it’s time for you to go home now.”

The man harrumphed and wandered off, still looking around vaguely.

~~~

When the doorbell rang for the third time, Shin had had enough. Before the door was even open, he was shouting, “Go home!”

Shinohara was on the other side. “Hey, don’t be that way.”

Shin felt his cheeks burning. “Oh.”

“Kumiko-chan asked me to help you with your studies.” He smiled bashfully. “Though I’m not sure I remember much from high school.”

“Uh, no… that’s okay.”

“Well don’t be like that,” Shinohara said with a grin, barging in just like Yamaguchi had the night before. “I may not look like it, but I was an outstanding tutor in my school days.”

Shin stared at him for a long moment. Shinohara stared back.

Shin broke first. “Would you like some tea?”

Shinohara smiled beatifically. “That would be wonderful, thanks.”

~~~

Over tea, Shin explained the situation.

“Wow,” Shinohara said. “She told you to win the next National Exams.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s incredible.”

“I know! I’m up against the guy who is ranked top in the nation!”

“No,” Shinohara said with a soft chuckle. “Not that. I mean… Kumiko-chan thinks you can do it.”

Shin stared at him. “What?”

“She’s not the kind of person who bets on a hopeless cause, you know.”

No, Shin _didn’t_ know, because Yamaguchi bet on hopeless causes _all the time_. 

Except… somehow things always worked out in the end, didn’t they? The kidnapped kid got rescued. The bad guy saw the error of his ways. The Shirokin students began to shape up. Every case seemed hopeless to Shin, but somehow they always turned out okay.

“You know it wasn’t my idea, right?” he said hesitantly. “She’s the one who thought up this plan.”

Shinohara grinned wryly. “Maybe it’s her way of getting you to study more. From what I’ve heard, your talent would be wasted if you left it all at Shirokin.”

“I…” Shin stopped and thought for a second. “I guess I don’t have anything I particularly want to do after high school. I didn’t plan on going to college.”

“That’s fair,” Shinohara said. “And you don’t have to decide everything now. But wouldn’t you like to see how far you could go if you _tried_? Even if it was just this once?”

Shin sighed. “I can see why you’re a lawyer.”

“That’s kind of you to say.”

~~~

And so Shin began studying for the biggest exam of his life. Yamaguchi told the other teachers about the challenge and all of them helped in their own way. Iwamoto created a comprehensive list of history topics that were likely to be on the exam, and scoured the library for the best books. Hatta got the sinks in the laboratory fixed so that Shin could complete three years of science experiments (and everyone else finally got to see a titration in action). Eguchi restructured English classes so that he and Shin could talk in English for an hour every day while everyone else in the class worked on other projects. Yamaguchi created endless problem sets. Fujiyama let Shin skip music to study. And Miura, who had been surprisingly quiet since the whole catfish-whisker fiasco, continued to avoid Shin like the plague, which was probably the single most useful contribution of all of the teachers.

Even Shin’s fellow students got in on the action, though their assistance primarily came in the form of not ragging Shin too hard when he went home to study every night instead of going out with the guys. They also somehow managed to stay out of trouble two full months, which might have been the most miraculous outcome of Yamaguchi’s plan.

In the evenings, Shinohara came by and helped Shin with the more difficult topics of study. It was clear that Shinohara _had_ forgotten a lot of what he’d learned in high school – sometimes Shin had to study something else while Shinohara read up on the topic Shin didn’t understand. 

Still, it was helpful to have a tutor who was as smart as Shin. Shinohara really got how Shin’s brain worked – maybe because his worked in a similar way – and he was good at explaining concepts in a different way to make them make sense to Shin.

Outside of finding a tutor and the math problem sets, most nights Yamaguchi contributed dinner to the studying effort. Being the wildly inappropriate person she was, she usually tried to eavesdrop on the tutoring sessions before bringing in the food. Shin got in the habit of leaving his front door unlocked and watching it carefully around dinner time. As soon as it inched open a crack, he’d go off on tangents, like how dumb historical names sounded and offering up whackjob theories about secret societies running the country.

His reward was Yamaguchi bursting in and chastising him for not taking his studying seriously. Shin wondered what it said about him that he found getting yelled at by Yamaguchi incredibly entertaining. Aaaand maybe just a little bit arousing. Yamaguchi was _stunning_ when she was irritated.

Shinohara always went along with Shin’s little tangents. He seemed to find Yamaguchi’s yelling as amusing as Shin did.

In point of fact, after spending so much time with Shinohara, Shin found himself very conflicted about the other man. On the one hand, Shinohara was legitimately an awesome guy – hard working, dedicated, cool under pressure. Under any other circumstances, Shin thought he’d really like the man.

On the other hand, it didn’t take long for Shin to realize that Shinohara was not indifferent to Yamaguchi. Maybe he didn’t have a massive crush on her like Yamaguchi had on him, but he clearly liked her. It meant that Shinohara was the competition, if it could be called a competition when one person was a hot-shot yakuza lawyer and the other was an underachieving high school delinquent.

Some days Shin was so filled with jealousy that he could barely look at Shinohara. The worst part of those days was the fact that Shinohara responded with gentleness, because on top of everything else, the man was kind.

Yeah, Shin got why Yamaguchi was so into Shinohara. Frankly, that just made the whole thing more depressing.

~~~

The day of the exam, Shin opened his door to find Shinohara standing on the other side. “Kumiko-chan asked me to drive you to the exam.”

“She didn’t want to do it herself?” Shin asked, locking up.

“I think she thought I’d have some masterful last words that would clinch the exam for you.” Shinohara started for the stairs.

Shin kept up easily. “And do you?”

Shinohara shrugged. “You studied hard, you’re a bright kid. You’ll do fine.”

Shin chewed on his lower lip for a second. “You really think so?”

Shinohara grinned. “Yeah, I really do.” He paused as they reached the first floor. “You want to call Kumiko-chan for a pep talk? I know she has one ready.”

Shin shuddered at the thought. “Uh, no. I think I’ll be okay.”

~~~

The amazing thing was… he did fine on the exam. _Great_ even. Tied for second in the whole country on the total score and beating Uesugi on the all-important math score.

And everything promptly turned to shit.

It started with the pressure to take the University Exam. Shin hadn’t planned on going to college and before the National Exams all of the teachers seem to have accepted that. Once he scored so high on the National Exams, however, everyone was expecting him to take the next logical step and apply to universities. Even Yamaguchi got a little pushy, which just reminded Shin that she was his teacher and to her he was nothing more than a student.

Then the vice principal ordered that ridiculous thirty-foot tall sign ensuring the entire world knew that Shin had scored well on the National Exams, which pissed off all of the other students. Even Shin’s friends got tired of that damn sign, lessening the pleasure they’d initially gotten over Shin beating Aotama’s best and brightest.

Who even knew how Uesugi reacted to the whole thing. Shin didn’t give enough of a shit to track the guy down and find out.

The next fiasco was everyone finding out Miura was gay. If it had gotten the guy fired, Shin wouldn’t have cared – not that Shin had anything against gay guys in general, but he had some pretty fucking strong opinions about sexual predators working in a school. Unfortunately, Yamaguchi’s need to save the underdog applied even when the underdog wasn’t worth saving and Miura’s job went from a temporary position to a permanent one.

The worst thing… well, the worst thing was something Shin didn’t expect at all. And, technically it was something that didn’t even have anything to do with him.

It started with the impulse to take a walk on a pretty spring weekend. After months of studying during every free second, it felt amazing to just stroll through the town, with no goal and no destination.

Of course, with his usual luck, Shin ran into Kyou twenty minutes into his walk. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing – Kyou was like a perverted old male version of Yamaguchi, which was entertaining – except Shin stumbled on Kyou doing the walk of shame away from a girl that looked barely older than Shin himself.

A girl that called him _Kyou-chan_. Shin shuddered.

Kyou didn’t look any happier to see Shin than Shin was to see him. “Shin-kou! What are you doing here?”

“Going for a walk.”

“This early in the morning?”

Shin rolled his eyes. “It’s noon.”

“Oh.”

Shin cleared his throat. “Uh, that girl… isn’t she kinda young?”

“She’s twenty!” Kyou said quickly. “A totally legal twenty years old.”

Shin shuddered again.

Abruptly, Kyou bowed down. “Shin-san! Please don’t tell Ojou what you just saw.”

“Uh… okay.” Shin frowned. “But why? I mean, you’re not married, right? There’s no reason why you have to hide.”

Kyou stood up and sighed. “No. It’s just… it’s not good for Ojou’s upbringing.”

Shin stared at him incredulously. “She’s twenty-four. I don’t think you have to worry about her upbringing anymore.”

Kyou wrapped an arm around Shin’s throat and jerked him close, which was weird but not really out of line for Kyou. “The thing is,” Kyou said under his breath, right into Shin’s ear. “Ojou doesn’t really know men.”

It took Shin a second to translate that to: _Yamaguchi’s a virgin_. 

He lurched away from Kyou. “I didn’t need to know that!”

“I mean, she’s a really attractive woman,” Kyou said, which didn’t make Shin feel any better. “And lots of guys were interested in her.”

“Really?” Shin said doubtfully.

Kyou _glared_ at him.

“I mean, of course!” Shin said hastily.

“Anyway,” Kyou said, starting down the street. Shin hurried to keep up. “The family business scared most of the guys off. A few were brave enough to come to the house, but no one came back more than once.”

Shin imagined how a bunch of over-protective yakuza men would treat Yamaguchi’s potential high school boyfriends and winced.

Still… “Isn’t that their problem? Her family shouldn’t matter.”

Kyou grinned and wrapped an arm around Shin’s shoulders. “Well said! Same goes for you and your policeman dad. Love is on your side!”

Shin froze. “Uh, what?”

Kyou chuckled. “I’ve seen the way you look at Ojou and I’m rooting for you, kid!”

Shin shrugged off Kyou’s arm. “She’s in love with Shinohara.”

Kyou waved that off. “That’s no different than a girl having a crush on the popular boy in school.”

Yeah, Shin wasn’t buying that for a second. He’d seen the way Yamaguchi looked at Shinohara. Worse, he’d seen the way Shinohara looked back at Yamaguchi. “What about Shinohara? Does he have a girlfriend?”

Kyou sighed. “Yeah, that’s kind of weird. I mean, looking the way he does and being a lawyer on top of it – he should be rolling in pussy.”

Shin winced. 

“But he…” They turned a corner and Kyou’s voice trailed off.

In front of them was Shinohara. And a girl. Shinohara _and a girl_. As they watched, the girl flung herself into Shinohara’s arms.

Shin turned on his heel and walked away as quickly as possible. Next to him, Kyou did the same.

“Holy shit,” Shin breathed.

“…yeah,” Kyou said.

“ _Holy shit!_ ”

“Yeah.”

“…what should we do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might have noticed that I skipped over Abe job interview storyline. Of all the side stories that I’m skipping, this is the one I most wish I could include. Unfortunately it relies so heavily on visual humor that I couldn’t find a way to make it work in narrative form. If you haven’t read it, however, I highly recommend tracking down a copy – it’s the sixth and seventh chapter of volume 11.


	25. The Rival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta! Also, this is the first of two chapters for today. Enjoy!

Kumiko was feeling pretty good about life.  In the last month not a single Shirokin student had been arrested, Sawada had topped the National Mock Exam, and Fuji had finally tricked Uesugi into stepping into a pile of dog shit.  Kumiko even managed to teach her third years what approaching the limit meant, which might be her greatest professional achievement to date!

Admittedly, Sawada was being irritatingly stubborn about not taking the University Exam, and in the last couple of days he’d gotten really quiet in class.  Kumiko wouldn’t have thought much of it – Shin had more than the average amount of moodiness for a teenage boy – but Kyou was also being suspiciously quiet of late, and she was secretly worried that something bad had happened between the two of them.

Thus it was dismaying, but not entirely surprising, to come home to find the ima full of men who wouldn’t look her in the eye.  Kumiko swallowed a sigh.  “Something happen, guys?”

The men – _still_ unable to look at her – hastily said no.

“Uh-huh,” she said flatly, crossing her arms.  “Don’t play dumb with me.”  Wakamatsu winced and Kumiko zeroed in on him.  “What happened, Wakamatsu?”

“Uh…”  He cleared his throat.  “It’s just that… um… Shinohara-sensei is…”  He trailed off entirely.

Kumiko glanced over at the step to Grandpa’s office.  “Shinohoara-sensei came over?”

“Y-yeah,” Wakamatsu said.  “He said he had to talk to the boss.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Kumiko said, and ran towards the office.

“Wait!  Ojou!” Wakamatsu yelled.

Kumiko turned back.  “Yeah?”

He cleared his throat.  “Actually, at lunchtime, a woman showed up.”

Kumiko’s heart sank.  “A woman?”

“Yeah.  She said her name is Yoshizumi.  She’s a… childhood friend… of Shinohara-sensei and she came to tell him that his father was seriously ill and in the hospital.”

Kumiko staggered back a step and sank down to the floor.  “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Wakamatsu said quietly.  “She asked your grandfather to tell Shinohara-sensei to return home.”

Kumiko’s eyes widened as she realized why Shinohara was in Grandpa’s office, and she scrambled to her feet.  Ignoring Wakamatsu’s protests, she ran over to Grandpa’s door and focused her hearing.

“…so sorry she even came to see you,” came Shinohara’s voice.

“I don’t care about that,” Grandpa said.  “You should treat your parents with respect, Sensei.  If you don’t make amends with your father while you have the chance, you’ll regret it your whole life.”

Kumiko swallowed painfully around the lump in her throat.  Grandpa was _encouraging_ Shinohara to go.

“Dad’s not deathly ill,” Shinohara answered.  “Besides, I was planning to go back when my current trial is over.”

“What’s the case?” Grandpa asked.

“Maruta.”

There was a pause.  “Maruta?”

“Maruta Norio,” Kyou’s voice answered.  “You might know him as Carlos, boss.”

There was an even longer pause.

“The guy who helped Ojou’s students with the boxing challenge?  She recommended him for a ceremonial drink?”

“Oh.  Him.”

“Yeah,” Kyou said, sounding equally unenthusiastic.  “Turns out he’s a kleptomaniac.  He kept stealing shit and now he’s on trial for larceny.”

_Huh,_ Kumiko thought.  She’d forgotten about Carlos.  Remembering the boxing gear that had magically appeared for her students, she wasn’t surprised to hear how his story had turned out.

Grandpa let out an irritable sigh.  “Frankly, it doesn’t sound like he’s worth defending.  This is exactly what I’m talking about, Sensei.  Now’s a perfect opportunity to cut ties with the yakuza, return to your hometown, and start over in a respectable life.”

“Boss,” Shinohara said softly.

“Boss!” Kyou shouted.

Kumiko closed her eyes and curled up into a tight ball on the floor.

“I’m really grateful for all of your hard work,” Grandpa said.  “I feel like you’re my own son.  But you’ve long since repaid any obligation you had to me or to this family.  It’s time to remember why you wanted to become a lawyer in the first place.  Remember what you owe your father and mother.”

“Boss…” Shinohara said again, and this time there was acceptance in his voice.

Kumiko pushed herself to her feet and stumbled to the ima.  Hiding in the shadows next to the doorway, she said, “Hey.”

The guys all turned to her, looking anxious.  “Ojou?”

“That woman who came was…” Kumiko started, then stopped for her throat to loosen up enough to finish.  “Was she beautiful?”

“No!” Wakamatsu said quickly.  “Not at all!”

“Yeah,” Minoru said.  “More cute, than beautiful.  But she really had it going on.”

“She was super-pretty!” Tetsu added.

Wakamatsu started yelling and beating the two of them, but Kumiko barely heard the commotion.  She felt like she’d sunk underwater, with all of the sounds of the world muffled and muted.  In a daze, she wandered back to her room and curled up on her futon.  Closing her eyes, she tried to think of nothing at all.

~~~

She was still feeling dazed and distracted the next day and, while she did make it to work, she was completely unable to come up with the level of energy or passion it took to drill  math into the heads of teenage boys.  Instead she stood at the window, staring out into the school’s backyard, and wondered what it would be like to live in a world that no longer contained Shinohara.

Distantly she heard the kids misbehaving, even felt them throwing things at her, but it didn’t seem to matter.  Nothing mattered.  Shinohara was leaving.  He was leaving her, forever.

By the end of the day, Kumiko was so exhausted that she could barely stand.  She wandered out with her bag over her shoulder, absently saying goodbye to the other teachers, and headed in the direction of the train station.  No way was she up for walking all the way home.

She was halfway to the station when a soft feminine voice said, “Um… excuse me?”

Kumiko blinked and glanced over.  Next to her was a cute, super-pretty woman and Kumiko wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her stomach sank even further than it had been all day.  “You’re the Kuroda’s Kumiko-san,” the woman said hesitantly.  “Is that right?”

With a sigh, Kumiko turned to face the woman head on.  The woman yelped, staring.

Kumiko stared back.  The woman really was pretty, with delicate features and an aura that radiated home-cooked meals and quiet, comfortable evenings at home.  Nothing like the wild energy and overbearing enthusiasm that flooded Kumiko’s aura.

After a long moment, the woman suddenly bowed her head.  “My name is Yoshizumi.”

“…hi.”

Behind her there was suddenly a bunch of yelling, but it barely registered.  All of Kumiko’s attention was focused on the woman in front of her.  “You’re Shinohara-sensei’s friend, right?”

Yoshizumi smiled tightly.  “Sorry for coming here to bother you.”

“No problem,” Kumiko answered on autopilot.  “What can I do for you?”

“Did you hear that Shinohara-san’s father is ill?”

“I did.”

“Despite this, Shinohara-san doesn’t seem to want to come home.  He doesn’t want to leave from this place and I… I wondered… I thought it might be because of you.”

Kumiko gaped at her.  “What?  That’s not the case!”

“Really?” Yoshizumi asked dubiously.

“Shinohara-sensei and I aren’t involved in that kind of relationship.”  Gritting her teeth, she added, “I agree that he should go home to see his parents.”

“Really?” Yoshizumi asked, sounding even more dubious.  “Then why hasn’t he—”  Her voice cut off abruptly as she looked over Kumiko’s shoulder with wide eyes.  “Actually, I’m really sorry for bothering you,” she said hastily.  “Goodbye!”  With one last terrified glance over Kumiko’s shoulder, she ran away.

Kumiko stared after her, baffled, until she heard a hesitant voice say behind her, “Um… Yankumi?”

Ah.  Apparently she had been followed.  She turned with a sigh and found herself looking at nearly all of 3-4.  Several of them dropped to their knees, looking anguished as the class cried out, “We’re so sorry!”

“What?” Kumiko said blankly.

“We were bad!  Please forgive us!”

“Uh,” Kumiko said, all of her other worries vaporizing in a rush of fear for her students.  What had they done to warrant _this_?  Had they _murdered_ someone?

“Who would have thought your rival would ambush you?” Noda sobbed.

“And it was such a fierce battle!” Ucchi wailed.

Kumiko stared at them blankly.  “What are you guys talking about?”

“We need a mirror,” Sawada said, and Kumiko looked at him gratefully.  At least one boy had managed to avoid going into hysterics over this crisis.

Then someone put a mirror in her hand, and all positive thoughts for any of them vanished without a trace.  They had drawn a _beard_ around her mouth in marker!  And a _mole_!

_She’d just confronted Shinohara’s maybe-girlfriend sporting a FAKE BEARD AND MOLE!_

“You assholes!” she shrieked, and the boys of 3-4 scattered, running away like their lives depended on it.  “Don’t you run away from me!  I know where you live!”

A hand on her arm stopped her from running after the nearest boys and beating them into paste.  Kumiko turned on Sawada, who yanked his hand away and held it up, placating.  “You’ll see them tomorrow!  You can punish them then.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Us,” he added quickly.  “You can punish us.  But don’t you want to go home and wash your face now?”  He looked a little pained.  “And, um… maybe change your shirt?”

Her eyes narrowed into slits.

“It was a prank,” Sawada said quietly.  “They didn’t know this would happen.”

He wasn’t wrong, but Kumiko wasn’t feeling very forgiving at the moment.

“At least sleep on it?” he suggested.  “Maybe it’ll seem funny in the morning?”

Beating him up wasn’t an option.  It was _not_ an option, no matter how good it sounded.

She turned on her heel and stomped away.

~~~

It didn’t seem funny in the morning, but Kumiko admitted that she felt slightly less homicidal.  She didn’t need to actually kill any of them, but maiming still sounded plenty fair.

Unfortunately, given the choice between a one-on-one fight with Kumiko and running laps, the boys opted to run laps on Monday.

And on Tuesday.

_And_ on Wednesday.

By Friday, Kumiko’s temper had cooled enough – and the boys looked miserable enough – that she decided she’d made her point.  She informed them that if they were very, _very_ well behaved over the weekend, she might _consider_ not making them run on Monday.  If the amount of reassuring and promising could be believed, Shirokin’s students were about to embark on the most peaceful weekend of their lives.

Kumiko wasn’t so lucky.  She’d just started on her grading when Fujiyama slid a chair right next to Kumiko’s and said, “I heard that your rival in a love triangle showed up.”

With a sense of rising doom, Kumiko looked over to see Fujiyama’s face alight with prurient interest.  “Um…”

“Yes?” Fujiyama said eagerly.

Kumiko sighed.  “I hate to burst your bubble, but she and I didn’t actually talk that much.”

“Hm,” Fujiyama said, her anticipatory smile fading slightly.  She glanced around the teacher’s lounge, where several of the men were clearly listening.  “I need a smoke.  Come up on the roof with me.”

Kumiko groaned, but she knew there was no way to get out of this in the long term, so she followed Fujiyama outside.  “Okay, we’re alone,” Fujiyama said, lighting a cigarette.  “Spill.”

So Kumiko spilled.  Not that there was a lot to say: five minutes was enough to explain Shinohara’s sense of obligation to Kumiko’s family and the arrival of Yoshizumi.  “So he might go back home to his family for good,” Kumiko finished.  “And Grandpa thinks it’s a good idea.”

“So, in another words, you still haven’t confessed to him,” Fujiyama said.

“No.  I mean… we don’t have that kind of relationship!”

Fujiyama snorted expressively.

Kumiko grit her teeth.  “Sensei is an important person.  He takes care of everyone in the family.”

“Yeah, but you like him, right?”

Kumiko felt her cheeks burning.  “I…admit that I have… admired Sensei since… high school.”

“Just admired?” Fujiyama asked, radiating disbelief.  Kumiko glared at her, but Fujiyama waved it off.  “Anyway, where do things stand now?”

Kumiko turned back to the railing, her shoulders slumped.  “Shinohara-sensei went back home to check on his father.  He said he’d be gone for a few days but…”  She blinked back some tears.  “It’s already been a week!  And he hasn’t called.”

“Hm.  How do you feel about that?”

“It’s okay, I guess.”  Kumiko rubbed her eyes hastily.  “I always knew that he would leave us eventually.  Maybe it’s better this way.”

Fujiyama growled.  “Listen to yourself, woman!  Where is your fire?  Where is your passion?  Where is your _spine_?  Quit standing around here whining and go after your man!”

Kumiko gaped at her.  “What?”

“It’s perfect.  Tomorrow’s Saturday.  By this time tomorrow, you could be confessing to him.”

“I couldn’t do that!” Kumiko yelped.

“You have to know!” Fujiyama shouted back.  “If he loves you, you have to know!  And if he doesn’t, then you can finally move on.”

“But to go all the way to Hokkaido just to—”

“Ooo, he lives in Hokkaido?”  Fujiyama grinned.  “What time do you want us to leave?  I’ll book the tickets.”

Kumiko stared.  “Um… what?”

“I have to support you in this endeavor!  Also Hokkaido is really nice this time of year.”  



	26. Hokkaido

Sonomura burst into the classroom and announced: “I have news!  Tomorrow Yankumi and Fujiyama are heading to Hokkaido!”

“Why?” Minami asked.

“To chase that guy!”

The class burst into cries of astonishment.  Shin felt his heart sinking.  This was it, then.  No way would Shinohara disappear after Yamaguchi went across the country to declare her love.

All around him students started planning on how they could get to Hokkaido to continue watching the spectacle.  Shin listened half-heartedly, not really interested.  _He_ had no intention of going along.  The last thing he wanted to do was actually witness Yamaguchi finally getting together with the love of her life.

When the boys started talking about taking advantage of the cheap – and excruciatingly slow – youth tickets, Shin got up and wandered out.  If the guys wanted to spend Friday night and most of Saturday on the slowest train available on Japan’s rail network, that was their choice.  He was done listening.

Kuma caught up with him at the door.  “Shin-chan, you’re going home?”

“Yeah.”

“…don’t you want to go to Hokkaido?”

Shin snorted.  “Not a chance.”

“Oh.” Kuma nodded sharply.  “Then I’m not going either.”

Shin bit his lip, knowing that Kuma probably couldn’t afford even the dirt-cheap youth tickets.  If Shin went, he could discreetly buy tickets for both of them.  Dad had doubled Shin’s allowance after the National Mock Exam, undoubtedly as a bribe to encourage Shin to at least sit for the University Exam.  Shin was still on the fence about the whole thing and was saving the money for now.  Whatever he decided to do next, a little extra cash would be helpful.

If he thought Kuma would take it, he’d offer to buy the ticket outright, but Kuma had his pride.  He’d only let Shin pay for tickets if Shin said he wanted company.  That wouldn’t work this time.

Oh, well.  At least this meant Kuma couldn’t get into trouble with the other guys.  Kuma’s mom would appreciate that.  Besides, Shin was exhausted from all the drama.  He’d take advantage of this weekend to catch up on his sleep.

~~~

Kumiko woke up on Saturday morning with an overwhelming sense of dread.  No matter how she looked at it, the idea of chasing Shinohara to Hokkaido was awful.  Unfortunately, Fujiyama hadn’t been willing to accept no for an answer.  Besides, the guys had all looked a little misty-eyed last night when Kumiko told them she was going to see Shinohara.  Even Grandpa looked proud.  There was no way to back out now.

Everyone wanted to help bring Kumiko to the airport.  Kyou won because he was Kyou, but he was unusually quiet on the trip.  It was only when the airport was in sight that he asked, “Are you sure you want to do this, Ojou?”

She hesitated.  “Do you think Sensei will be happy to see me?”

Kyou slammed his fist on the wheel.  “If he isn’t, he’s a fool!”

_Or maybe he’s in love with someone else,_ Kumiko thought, but she kept that thought to herself.

~~~

Shin was enjoying his first real lie-in in months when his doorbell rang.  He groaned and flipped over in bed, ignoring the noise.

The doorbell rang again.  And again.

Swearing, Shin pushed himself out of bed and opened the door.  “Oh,” he said, swallowing his initial irritation.  “Kuma.”  He stepped back to let Kuma in.  “What are you doing here so early?”

“It’s already afternoon,” Kuma said, pulling off his shoes.  “Shin-chan… the guys, they really went to Hokkaido.”

Shin yawned and dug into his fridge for water.  “Did they leave last night?”

“Yeah.  I think they’ll arrive sometime tonight.”

Shin shook his head and sat on the bed, water bottle in hand.  “What a waste of a weekend.  They probably won’t make it back until sometime Monday.”

Kuma dropped down onto the floor next to the bed.  “I think most of them went.  Maybe twenty?”  He paused, clearly thinking about that.  “They must be a bother to the other passengers.”

Silently, Shin agreed.  Out loud, he said, “We’re going to have an empty classroom on Monday.”

“Yeah.”  Kuma was quiet some more.  Shin contemplated going back to sleep.  Kuma wouldn’t mind.

“Shin-chan?”

“Yeah, Kuma?”

“What do you think’s going to happen to Yankumi?  I mean… she’s really different, and in a love triangle…  Do you think she’s just going to Hokkaido to get cruelly rejected?  Do you think she’s going to come back a broken woman?”

Shin tried to imagine Yamaguchi as a broken woman, but it was beyond his imagination.  “I’m not worried,” he said.  “He’s a good guy.”

“What?” Kuma said, startled.  “You know him?”

“Yeah, a little.”  He thought about explaining how Shinohara had helped tutor Shin for the National Mock Exam, but his mind revolted at the discussion that would follow.  Instead, he changed the subject.  “What about the guys?  Did they even think about where they’d spend the night?”

“Oh, yeah.  They aren’t getting a hotel or anything since they’re arriving so late.  They said they’d spend the night playing in Susukino and then sleep on the train back.”

Shin groaned at the thought of the guys let loose in a notorious red light district.  At least there was only so much trouble they could get into without money.

Then he realized something.  “Wait, didn’t someone say that Yamaguchi was going to Otaru?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Shin buried his face in his hands.  “Susukino is in Sapporo.”

“ _What?_ ”

Shin sighed.  “Have you tried calling them?”

Kuma started trying to get in touch with the guys.  Shin watched for a moment, got bored, and picked up a magazine.

Ten minutes later, Kuma gave up with a sigh.  “No luck.”  He hesitated.  “Shin-chan, I’m kinda worried.  I figured Yankumi could keep the guys out of trouble, but if she’s not even going to be there… they’re not going to be safe wandering around a strange town all night!”

Shin groaned again, but Kuma did have a point.  “Fine,” he said.  “But if I’m doing this, you’re coming with me.  Call your mom and tell her you’re spending the night.  I’ll get the tickets.”

Kuma lit up and started dialing immediately.

~~~

Kumiko and Fujiyama landed in late afternoon.  Kumiko had half-expected Fujiyama to disappear immediately; if that had happened there had been a non-zero chance that Kumiko would’ve gotten on the very next plane back home.

For better or worse, Fujiyama didn’t abandon Kumiko.  In fact, Fujiyama took charge of the whole operation, dragging Kumiko to Shinohara’s family’s house and then questioning all of the neighbors when it turned out that the house was empty.

“They’re at the hospital,” Fujiyama announced as she strode out of the last house, radiating determination.  “Come on, it’s not that far.”

Fujiyama took off down the street.  Kumiko dropped her head in resignation and followed.

~~~

“I’ve never been on a bullet train before,” Kuma said, like this would be news to Shin.

Admittedly, Shin had never been on the bullet train either.  Dad preferred to fly, which was faster than the train if you could afford cars to pick you up at the airport and drive you into town.  Shin’s allowance wasn’t quite that generous, so the train – which would drop them off within walking distance of downtown – was the better option.  It still felt slow to Shin, however, and they wouldn’t be arriving until after dark.  Who knew what trouble the guys could get into in that time?

“Ooo,” Kuma said.  “There’s a lady selling bentos!”

Shin sighed and stared out the window.

~~~

“This is it,” Fujiyama said.  “The old neighbor lady said the whole family was visiting here.”

Kumiko’s chest tightened alarmingly.  “Maybe this is a bad idea.  We shouldn’t be bothering these people at the hospital.”

“Don’t give me that.  Love is selfish!  If you let that stand in your way, you’ll never make any progress.”

“Yeah, but coming all this way… what would he think of me?”

“Pull yourself together!” Fujiyama snapped, grabbing Kumiko by the shoulders and shaking her roughly.  “Let’s get this over with so we can go sightseeing!”

Kumiko paused.  “Did you say “sightseeing”?”

Fujiyama moved behind Kumiko and shoved her in the direction of the hospital.

Kumiko turned and tried to walk back to the road.  “What could I even say?”

“Don’t say anything!  Just smile!  Everything will be okay if you just… get… inside.”  Fujiyama dropped her arms, looking over Kumiko’s shoulder.

A very familiar voice said, “Um… Kumiko-chan?”

Kumiko’s heart skipped a beat and then started racing.  Slowly, she forced herself to turn around.

There, standing behind them, were Shinohara and Yoshizumi.

“Is this the guy?” Fujiyama whispered.

Kumiko whimpered and forced her lips to curve up in a smile.  Based on the nervous looks on Shinohara and Yoshizumi’s faces, the expression looked more like a rictus of terror.

“Kumiko-san!” Yoshizumi shouted.  “What are you doing here?”

“Um…”

Fujiyama stepped forward, her hands on her hips.  “What about you?  What are you doing here?”

“What did you say?” Yoshizumi snapped back.

They glared at each other.

Fujiyama spun to Shinohara.  “Shinohara-san!  It’s time for you to choose!  Who are you going to pick among the three of us?”

There was an awkward silence.  “And who are you?” Shinohara asked.

Fujiyama deflated.  “Oh, right.  I guess I got a little caught up in the situation.  But still,” she jabbed a finger at Yoshizumi, “who is this woman to you?”

“Rie-chan?” Shinohara asked blankly.  “This is my younger sister’s friend.  I’ve known her since elementary school.”

“And is she your girlfriend?”

Kumiko held her breath, waiting for Shinohara to answer Fujiyama’s question.

Shinohara laughed.  “Of course not.  I haven’t seen her in years.  Anyway, we don’t even think of each other as man and woman, right?”

Yoshizumi looked like she’d been stabbed in the gut.  “…right.”

Even Kumiko felt a little sorry for her then.  Fujiyama visibly winced.  “Right.  Wow.  Okay, then, Rie-chan, you’re with me.  Why don’t you two go out for dinner?”

“But—” Yoshizumi started.

Fujiyama grabbed her by the neck and dragged her away.  “Enjoy yourselves!” she shouted over her shoulder as she raced to the street.

It took every ounce of willpower Kumiko had not to run after them.  “I’m sorry,” she blurted.  “For showing up here.  All of the sudden.”

“Well, you’re here now,” Shinohara said easily.  “Want to get a bite to eat?”

“Yeah,” Kumiko said.  “Okay.  Let’s get something to eat.”

~~~

Shin and Kuma got off the train at Sapporo and stood there for a minute.  “What should we do?” Kuma asked, looking around nervously.  “I’ve never been to Sapporo.”

“Neither have I,” Shin said.  “Let’s find the information desk.”

The information desk provided a map of the area and, at Shin’s request, directions to the police station nearest Susukino.  The information lady had looked askance at the question, but Shin had given her his best winsome smile until she took the map back and drew the fastest route.

Shin’s life would be so much simpler if Yamaguchi was at all susceptible to Shin’s winsome smiles.

“Do you really think they’ve been arrested?” Kuma asked as they emerged from the train station.

Shin didn’t bother answering.

~~~

Dinner with Shinohara went well, primarily because Shinohara carried the conversation and kept to safe topics, like the latest updates on Carlos and other Kuroda gossip.  As they ate and talked, Kumiko found herself relaxing.  This was one of the many reasons why she liked Shinohara so much: he took care of her, even in something as small as shielding her from awkward conversation.

After dinner, they went for a walk along the river.  “So,” Shinohara said as the last of the sunlight faded into dusk.  “The results of my father’s tests finally came in.  Mother wanted me to stay until they knew what was going on.  That’s why I’ve been here so long.”

“Oh,” Kumiko said.  “So you’re coming back?”

“My plan was to head back tomorrow.”

“Oh,” she said again.  She bit her lip.  “How is your father?”

“He’ll be fine after surgery, as long as he keeps his stress levels down.”

“Well… that’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Kumiko chewed on her lip.  “Are you okay with coming back tomorrow?”

“My job has responsibilities,” Shinohara said simply.  “But… I think it’s time.  I’m going to start wrapping things up.  When I find a dependable replacement…”  He looked over the water and hesitated before finishing, “I’m thinking about returning here eventually.”

Kumiko’s heart gave a wail of despair.  Externally, she fought to stay normal.  “R-right.  Of course.”

“My father is getting on in years,” Shinohara said.  “And all of my siblings have moved away.”

“No, I get it.”

“A parent is a parent.  You can’t cut that bond.”

“No, right.  Of course you can’t.”  Kumiko gripped the railing and stared down at the water of the river.  Could she escape this conversation if she jumped in?  Or would Shinohara jump in after and rescue her, just to leave her even more heartbroken than before.

“You, for example,” Shinohara said and Kumiko wanted to shout at him that _she got it already_ , but she couldn’t force out the words.  “You wouldn’t be able to think of cutting ties with the boss, would you?” Shinohara asked.  “You couldn’t leave everyone behind and start a new, completely different life.”

“No, I— wait, what?”  The words sunk in and Kumiko snapped her head around to see that Shinohara had turned and was walking away.  She grabbed him by the shoulder.  “Wait!”

Shinohara grabbed his shoulder, groaning.

Kumiko ignored that.  “What did you just mean?”

“I…”  Shinohara breathed hard.  Sweat was starting to bead on his forehead.  “I meant…  I…  Shit, my shoulder really hurts.”

Kumiko stared at him.

He stared back.

The cool night air washed over them and Kumiko could feel the tension rising—

Her phone rang. 

Kumiko blinked and the moment was gone.  She wrenched the phone out of her pocket.  “ _Goddamn it!  Who is this?_ ”

It was the police.  Of course.

_DAMN THOSE SHITTY STUDENTS!_

~~~

Shin and Kuma were getting nowhere with the Sapporo police.  It wasn’t that they weren’t nice enough, but nothing was getting them to the room where the Shirokin students were being held.  Shin gave up on his winsome smile and stepped back to let Kuma try his best with plaintive pleading.

Shin was starting to get impressed with Kuma’s arguments – from sheer length if nothing else – when a hand grabbed the front of his jacket and jerked him around.  He found himself face-to-face with an absolutely livid Yamaguchi.

“What did you do?” she snarled.  “Why didn’t you stop them?”

“We just got here!” Shin protested.

“Why are you guys in Hokkaido in the first place?” she snapped.

“Excuse me,” said the police officer who had proven entirely immune to Kuma’s arguments and Shin’s smile.  “It sounds like most of them came to visit Susukino.  They ran out of money fast and ended up drinking wine coolers in the park.”

Yamaguchi looked as embarrassed about the whole situation as Shin felt.  _Really guys?  Wine coolers in the park?  You could do that back home!_

“There was a gang of local troublemakers in the park, and a fight started.  The outcome was…” He opened the door behind him to reveal a room full of battered high school students, covered in blood and bruises.

Yamaguchi made a sound of inexpressible weariness.  “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”  She was covering her eyes, so she didn’t see the hopeful expressions lighting up her students’ faces.

_Well_ , Shin thought, _most of them aren’t very smart._   He took a step back to make sure he was clear of the line of fire.

“You guys,” Yamaguchi said, her shoulders starting to shake.  Shin lifted his eyebrows and took another step back.  “ _What the hell did you do?_ ” Yamaguchi shrieked, throwing herself into the room and laying a smackdown on the students.  “ _How could you have started a fight all the way up here?_ ”

The police officer jumped in and pulled Yamaguchi off of her students before she could injure anyone too seriously.  “Hey, hey,” the police officer said.  “Restrain yourself!  If you ask these kids what was going on, it seems they were worried about their homeroom teacher getting her heart broken.  They came all the way up here to support her.”

“What?” Yamaguchi yelped, staring at the officer.

“Don’t you think it’s rather sweet of them?” the officer asked.

“Oh, hell,” Shin muttered under his breath. 

“Oi,” Yamaguchi said.  “Which of you boys thought I was heartbroken?”

Unsurprisingly, no one volunteered.

The hapless police officer added, “Apparently they were wandering about looking for their teacher when they ended up in Susukino.”

“Oh, _really_ ,” Yamaguchi said.  “From Otaru, you somehow managed to end up _forty kilometers away_ in Sapporo?  _You shitty brats!_ ”

The police officer had to hold her back again.

“Come on, Sensei.  Yes, they shouldn’t have been drinking, but they got into a fight with kids from Kitakin High School.  Frankly it’s a miracle that no one was severely injured.  Isn’t that punishment enough?”

“Really?  Do you think so?  _Don’t you think you’re being a little bit LAX?_ ”

“Hey,” Shin cut in.  “What are you going to do if this guy actually arrests them?”

That caught Yamaguchi’s attention long enough for Ucchi to chime in with, “You’re in a really shitty mood, Yankumi.  Does that mean things didn’t go well with that guy?”

The entire police station suddenly went silent.  Yamaguchi looked around.  “Why is everyone listening?” 

There was an ostentatious amount of paper shuffling noises as the police officers pretended to get back to work.

Yamaguchi turned to the police officer.  “If you’re not going to arrest them, I need to take them now.  We still have to walk to the train station.”

The injured boys let out a collective groan.  “Don’t give me that!” Yamaguchi yelled, going back in for another smackdown.

Shin leaned back against the wall and sighed.  So much for catching up on his sleep. 

And, damn it, Yamaguchi _hadn’t answered the question_.

~~~

Getting the boys to the train station was like herding a bunch of cranky cats that kept trying to stop for a nap.  It involved a lot of kicks and shouts and swearing, which Kumiko was happy to deal out with liberal abandon.  Forget running laps; when they got home she’d sic Fuji on them.

They were wearily spread out around the train station when Fujiyama showed up.  She stopped and looked around at the boys flopped over every possible surface, most of them already half asleep.  “Wow.  It looks like this turned into a big deal.”

“Yeah.”  Kumiko took in Fujiyama’s tourist-trash clothes and Yoshizumi, who was standing a step behind Fujiyama, dressed exactly the same and looking dazed.  “What happened to you?”

“Oh, Rie-chan was so nice!  She drove me all over Hokkaido in her car.  We had a wonderful time, didn’t we, Rie-chan?”

Yoshizumi grimaced, but nodded.

“Okay,” Kumiko said dubiously.  “Anyway, I’m going to have to go back on the regular train with these idiots.  Otherwise who knows what kind of trouble they’d get up to?”

“That sounds like fun!” Fujiyama exclaimed.  “I’ll go with you.  Rie-chan, unload my luggage.”

Yoshizumi immediately turned and went to her car.  Kumiko watched as Yoshizumi unloaded box after box of tourist tat and eyed Fujiyama askance.  Fujiyama just smiled beneficently and patted Rie-chan on the head before sending her on her way.

“So,” she asked when she and Kumiko were alone.  “How’d it go with Shinohara-san?”

Kumiko’s cheeks burned.  “Um… about that.  He dislocated his shoulder.”

“What?”

“…and is in the hospital.”

“ _What?_   How did that happen?”

Kumiko scowled.  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Hm.”

Fortunately, the train pulled up before she could push harder, and it took both Kumiko and Fujiyama’s combined efforts to get everyone – and Fujiyama’s copious luggage – on board before the doors shut.

Kumiko had been slightly worried that the boys would act up again once they were around other people, but her fears were for naught.  Within five minutes of leaving the station, they started dropping off into sleep.

Frankly, Kumiko would like nothing better than to join them.  She had barely slept before the flight to Hokkaido, and hadn’t slept at all while supervising the kids.  Her eyes were sore and gritty and she spent half an hour trying to keep them closed without success.

Finally, feeling like crap and sick of her seat, she walked up the aisle until she found a spare spot next to Sawada.  Kumiko frowned in confusion and looked back over the carriage until she spotted Kuma napping peacefully next to Minami. 

That was odd.  Every trip they went on before had Kuma sitting next to Sawada.  And maybe the two of them got sick of each other on the trip up from Shirokin, but she would’ve expected a guy as popular as Sawada would have someone sitting next to him.  Normally everyone fell all over to hang around in Sawada’s orbit.

She was too tired to debate the question for long, however, and dropped into the empty seat.  After staring blankly at the seat back in front of her for a minute, she turned to face Sawada.  He looked as tired as she felt, even if he was actually managing to get some sleep.  It had been a really intense few months for him, preparing for the National Mock Exam and then dealing with the added academic pressure when he scored so high.  Maybe Kumiko had been pushing him too hard.  Maybe they all had.

His eyes snapped open and he looked right at her.

“Oh,” she said, startled.  “Are you awake?”

“You woke me up!” he snapped.  “It felt like you were staring at me and screaming WAKE UP!”

“Really?” Kumiko said.  It hadn’t felt like it at the time, but she wasn’t sure how long it took her exhausted thoughts to process through her worries about Sawada.  Maybe she had been staring.  “Sorry.  But everyone else fell asleep.”

“I was asleep, too!”

Kumiko ignored that.  “Even Fujiyama-sensei is asleep.  Or maybe drunk.  It’s hard to tell.”

Sawada sighed.  “And you?  Couldn’t sleep?”

Kumiko shook her head.

Sawada sighed again and rubbed his face.  “Okay.  You want to talk about anything?”

Kumiko chewed on the inside of her lip.  She hadn’t told anyone about this yet, and it _was_ weighing on her.  She sighed.  “I guess.  It’s just that… he said something and… and I’m not sure what he meant.”

Sawada didn’t ask who she was talking about, which was a relief, just raised his eyebrows and gestured for her to go on.

“He asked if I would be willing to leave Grandpa and everyone else at the kumi.  If I would be willing to lead a completely different life.”  She turned to him anxiously.  “What do you think he meant?”

Sawada was staring at the seat back in front of him, rather than looking at her, and he seemed tense.  “He said that.”

“Yeah.  And?”

“And doesn’t it sound like he wants you to go with him to Hokkaido?”

She gaped at him.  “You think so?”

“Don’t you?”

“But… really?  Do you really think so?”

“Oh my god!” he exploded.  “Why don’t you just ask him yourself?  You’re an adult!  A teacher!  Stop asking your students about this shit!”

She gaped at him.  He’d never blown up like this before, never. 

But it wasn’t like he was wrong, either.  “I… you’re right.  I shouldn’t be saying… Sorry.”

He turned to face the window.  “I’m going back to sleep.”

Kumiko nodded numbly, but she still felt awful.  “I’m sorry,” she said again.  “After everything we’ve gone through – sometimes I forget you’re my student.”  She rubbed her face.  “Anyway.  Sorry to bother you.”

He sighed and turned back.  “So… good for you.”

She looked at him blankly.  “What?”

“Otaru is a beautiful city.  It’s pretty far from your family, but you’ll adapt.”

She stared at him.  “ _What?_ ”

He stared at her.  “What?”

“Live in Otaru?  Me?”

Now he looked confused.  “Isn’t that what we were just talking about?  You moving to Otaru with Shinohara?”

Her mind went blank for a moment.  The idea of leaving her family, of leaving _Grandpa_ …

“Wait,” Sawada said.  “You haven’t even thought about it?”

“Of course not!” she retorted.  “Why would I?”

The animation drained out of Sawada’s face.  He shrugged.  “You love him, right?  So you should go with him.”

“I…”  Kumiko felt like the world was spinning around her.  “I… I think… I need to go get some sleep.”

She stood up and walked away with stiff legs.

If Sawada said anything as she left, she didn’t hear it.

~~~

Shin thumped his head against his headrest.  No fucking way he was getting any sleep now.  Why the hell did she have to come to _him_ with her questions?  Why couldn’t she go to Fujiyama or, better yet, to her family back home, where he wouldn’t have to hear it?

Wouldn’t have to know that the worst had finally happened.

“Aren’t you the fool, pretending to be all grown up?”

Shin started and looked up to see Fujiyama leaning over the top of his seat.  She did look pretty drunk.

“I know she said she “admired” this guy and all, but do you think she ever actually imagined dating or living together?”

Oh, wow.  He was so very fucking done with this topic.  “Who knows?” he said flatly.

Fujiyama kept slurring along.  “She can talk with you all she wants, but she hasn’t exactly asked _him_ his intentions, has she?”

“And?” Shin asked flatly.

“Nothing,” she said, sounding amused.  “Just talking out loud.”

“Go back to sleep.  You reek of beer.”

“I’m just saying…” she murmured as she slid back out of sight.

Shin turned to face the window and tried to put the whole Yamaguchi situation out of his mind.


	27. Explosive Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Entering the home stretch! Thank you to CappuccettoRosso for the beta.

The world felt just a little bit different when Kumiko got back from Hokkaido.  A little darker.  A little sadder.

It started with the women who were waiting when Kumiko got home.  Yasue, Tenkai’s wife, and every other woman Kumiko knew in the yakuza world was in the ima when Kumiko announced her arrival.  The guys stood in the back, looking a little nervous at the number of women in their territory.

That night, everyone got drunk on sake and told stories about the various ways they controlled their faithless men, from threatening to kill a potential rival, to holding a knife up to a philandering husband’s dick.

That last one came from Tenkai’s wife.  Kumiko rubbed her eyes, gulped down some more alcohol, and tried to ignore the ashen expressions on Tetsu and Minoru’s faces.  Really, it would’ve been nicer for everyone – especially Kumiko! – if they’d let the guys leave.

Eventually she’d drunk herself unconscious, which was the highlight of the day.

Unfortunately, the next day she’d had to go to work with a killer hangover and a bunch of desperately curious teachers who wanted to know what had happened to her, Fujiyama, and the bulk of 3-4 on Monday.  Kumiko slunk off to her classroom as soon as possible and let Fujiyama deal with the piranhas.  The principal was easier – she’d called him from the police station and he’d just been grateful that everyone was okay.  Thank god the principal’s shitty brother had apparently disappeared.  Kumiko shuddered to think what he’d have done with this whole fiasco.

A week of running _and_ pop-quizzes kept her students from being jerks about the whole Shinohara mess, which was good, because things at home were getting unpleasant.  Shinohara was nice, as always, but he wasn’t around as much and everyone was getting anxious now that Shinohara was known to be leaving in the unspecified, but near, future.

And, to top it all off, Sawada was being really distant.  Oh, he was still showing up to class most days, but he actually sat at his desk and did schoolwork and he didn’t hang around at all after school.  The rest of the students looked a bit baffled by this behavior but, as always, they were led by Sawada’s example.  Not that they did much schoolwork, but everyone started going home right after school.  Kumiko hadn’t realized how much she’d enjoyed the odd afternoon hanging out with her class until the second time she went up to the roof after school and found it empty.

Then Tetsu’s mom showed up and everything went entirely to shit.  Tetsu gave his mom his life savings and then got suckered into being a thug for his mom’s boyfriend.  Just dealing with such a horrible couple made Kumiko feel like she’d been dipped in slime and the look on Tetsu’s face when he realized what his mom was… Kumiko had had to lie to him at that point, just to make that awful expression go away, but she wasn’t sure he believed her.

And then, _and then_ , the principal’s shitty brother made a reappearance!  Fortunately Miura had seen the benefits of a school that embraced uniqueness – and Miura had gotten _very_ unique lately, Kumiko had to admit, though his students seemed to have accepted Miura’s changed wardrobe and new penchant for hair-styling tips – and immediately informed the principal that the chairman was starting up his campaign to shut the school down.

The chairman’s second attack was through the PTA.  The principal had apparently anticipated this, however, as the PTA leadership had suddenly changed to Inuzuka’s yakuza kumicho father and a successful but thuggish Shirokin graduate who swore unwavering loyalty to the principal.  By the time they were done with the chairman, there was a contract – signed in blood! – that the PTA would support and defend Kumiko’s right to teach at Shirokin.

The third attack, well… that one was something Kumiko had been anticipating for over a year.  She’d been in the school for less than five minutes when word came that the chairman and Sawada’s dad were holed up in the chairman’s rarely-used office.

Kumiko was rubbing her head and trying to figure out what, if anything, she could do about Sawada’s dad, when Fujiyama came up and said, “Age range in the twenties.”

Kumiko stared at her.  “What?”

“About five-eight, slender and elegant.  Has a sad look in the eyes but clearly with a good upbringing.”

“Um… what are you talking about?”

Fujiyama looked at her expectantly.  “Doesn’t that description ring a bell?”

“No.  Not at all.”

“Huh.  Well, he’s waiting for you by the back gate.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he asked me if I was you.”

“Then why would you think I know him?” Kumiko asked, frowning.  “Though I can’t recall knowing anyone with a good upbringing.”

“He’s kind of cute,” Fujiyama said.  “And he looks pretty close to your age.”

Kumiko rolled her eyes.  “No.”

“What?  You said Shinohara-san’s moving to Hokkaido, didn’t you?”

Kumiko’s mood blackened and Fujiyama held up her hands quickly.  “Anyway,” she said.  “Shouldn’t you go see who this guy is and what he wants?”

~~~

By the time Kumiko got downstairs, the man had started to walk away.  “Wait!” she called out.  “I’m Yamaguchi-sensei.  Were you looking for me?”

The man turned around and Kumiko’s breath caught in her throat.  The hair was black and the features were a little older, but she knew that face.

“Sorry for showing up so suddenly,” the man said.

“That’s okay,” Kumiko said.  “I think I know who you are.  Sawada’s older brother, right?”

The man looked surprised.  “How did you know?”

“You look just like him.  You even sound a little like him.”

He smiled slightly.  “I wouldn’t tell that to Shin.”

Kumiko’s eyes narrowed.  “About that…”  She grabbed the man’s shirt.  “Where the hell have you been?  What the hell have you been up to?”  In her rage, she actually managed to lift him up to his toes.  “You’re already in your twenties!  How could you have just abandoned your family like that?”

“Yamaguchi!” a familiar voice snapped out.  “Stop it!”

Reluctantly, Kumiko let go of the man, who clutched his chest dramatically and gasped.

Ignoring the histrionics, Kumiko turned to Sawada.  “Sawada.”

“Shin…” the man breathed.

“Akira,” Sawada said flatly.

There was an awkward pause.  “I talked to Mom,” Akira finally said.  “She said you were forced to return home because of me.”  He shrugged.  “I came to apologize to Yamaguchi-sensei for causing so many problems.”

Kumiko glared at him.  “What do you mean you’re here to apologize to _me_?  You should be apologizing to your _brother_!”

Akira turned to Sawada and looked awkward.  “Shin…”

“Where the hell were you?” Shin snapped.  “What were you doing?”

Akira sighed and sat down on a bench.  “I’ve been staying with a friend in Oomachi.”

“Oomachi,” Kumiko repeated blankly.  “That’s only ten minutes away!”

Sawada looked equally stunned. “I thought you left because you had big plans.  What happened to those?”

“I never had big plans,” Akira said.  “I just wanted to get away from Dad.”

Kumiko rubbed her forehead.  This was starting to sound very familiar.

“Of course you were,” Sawada said with a sigh.  “But you were his favorite.”

Akira snorted.  “All I ever did was what Dad told me to do.  I studied twelve hours a day, I took extra-curriculars I didn’t care about, I spent every evening in that horrible cram school – none of that was what I wanted.”

He swiped at his eyes.  “One morning I woke up and I just… couldn’t breathe.  Living in that house was unbearable.  But I could never say that to Dad, so…”

“…so you left,” Sawada finished.  “Without telling anyone.”

Akira nodded, looking miserable.

Kumiko sighed.  “The problem is, you didn’t get the chance to rebel like a normal teenager.  And yeah, I’ll admit that your father’s got some issues.  He’s self-righteous, authoritative, and worse of all, he’s the head of police.  But even so, you’re the one in the wrong!”

Akira stared at her.  “What?”

“Why didn’t you tell your father you were feeling this way?  He’s not a mind reader!”

“You don’t get it.  He’s not going to care what I think.  He doesn’t understand.”

“So what?  So what if he doesn’t understand?  Even if it starts a fight, you have to tell him how you feel.”  She cuffed Sawada lightly on the head and then hooked an arm around his neck, ignoring his complaining.  “This guy stood up to his father.  He said that he wanted to stay at Shirokin, no matter what.  And his father listened!

“Leaving without saying anything?  Blaming it on your father?  That’s just cowardice!  It’s rude to your father who raised you and extremely disrespectful.  Your father is only thinking of his children!  No matter how inflexible he is…”

“Who are you calling inflexible?”

Kumiko jumped and turned to find Sawada’s dad standing right behind her.  She yelped.

“Dad!” the boys both said, sounding shocked.

Sawada Senior stared at Kumiko.  She stared back.  “Uh… it’s been a while?” she tried.

He narrowed his eyes and turned to his son.

“Dad!” Akira said.  “I…”

“Enough,” Sawada Senior said flatly, already turning to walk away.  “I heard the story.  Do as you wish.”

Akira abruptly bowed deeply.  “Dad, I’m sorry to have made you worry!  I think I would like to return to college.”

Sawada Senior stopped walking.  He didn’t turn around, but it was clear he was listening.

Akira continued, “You probably think I’m an idiot, that it took so long to figure this out, but… I _liked_ the path you set out for me.  I want to continue studying.  Maybe I’ll make it, maybe I won’t, but I’d like to try on my own.”

Sawada Senior continued to stand there like a lump on a log, so Kumiko whispered some suggestions in his ear.  “You really are an idiot,” she offered.  “But the time you took to think this through was necessary.  Come home whenever you wish.  Your mother has been missing you and I—”

Sawada Senior glared at her.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Helping?”

“Well, stop it!” he snapped.  “You… irresponsible teacher!”

He stormed off, leaving a snickering Sawada and a flabbergasted Akira behind.  Kumiko smiled at the two of them.  “That could have gone worse?”

Sawada shook his head at her, but he was still smiling.  After the last couple of weeks of grim disapproval, she’d take it and be grateful.  “Anyway,” she added, “I’ve got to get to class.  Sawada, don’t be late.”

Then, hoping against hope that Sawada would ignore her and spend some much-needed time reconnecting with his brother, she went back to class to await the fallout from the meeting between the principal’s brother and Sawada’s dad.

Except… there was no fallout, not that she noticed.  No word from the principal at any rate, and he’d been keeping her in the loop anytime something came up.  This was not a situation where anyone wanted to be caught off guard.

The one positive thing that changed was Sawada’s reengagement in class and in school life.  Sawada was still doing more schoolwork than usual, but he was interacting with other students again and the boys resumed their periodic after-school hangout sessions on the roof.

Kumiko was careful not to immediately jump back into her usual level of interaction with them; she didn’t want to scare Sawada off again.  Fortunately, fate gave her an excuse, in the form of a black eye on Hatta.  Hatta claimed the black eye was an accident when he tried to break up a fight, but Kumiko had enough experience covering for her class to see the signs in others.

Armed with the name of the violent student, Kumiko went upstairs and asked them about this Shibata kid.

“Seems like a dangerous guy,” Noda offered.

“The kind of guy who would use a knife,” Ucchi said, radiating disapproval.

Kumiko bit back a smile at how well they had absorbed her lessons in fair fighting.  “How have I not heard about this before?  And why haven’t you been standing up for your underclassmen?”

Ucchi snorted.  “What the hell do I care about those brats?”

“Anyway, isn’t that your job?” Noda said.

They did have a point.  Kumiko considered her options and then walked away, ignoring the guys calling after her.

Fortunately, after the whole Black Cross gang fiasco, Kumiko had hidden a disguise in the file room.  It took less than an hour of poking around to hear the sounds of someone getting beaten up in the third floor bathroom.  As she yanked on her mask and hoodie, she heard a male voice – presumably Shibata – threaten to cut a boy if he didn’t cough up some money.

Kumiko scowled and kicked open the bathroom door.  Inside she found a cowering sophomore, covered in bruises, as well as Shibata and a couple of his thugs.

They stared at her.

Shibata recovered first.  “Who the hell are you?”

“Firstly!” she snapped, grabbing Shibata’s knife hand and yanking it behind his back so she could safely disarm him.  “People’s money is their own!  You can’t frighten them into giving it to you.”

She considered the knife for a second before bending it out of shape and tossing it aside.

“Secondly!” she declared, looking at the stunned thugs.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have a good second point on hand, so there was an unfortunate pause before she came up with: “Stop messing around, you brats!  Don’t beat up on a teacher who cares about you!”

And, with that, she provided some physical dissuasion.  By the time she was done, the three boys were on the floor, whimpering as they considered the error of their ways, while the sophomore was long gone, presumably to lick his wounds.

Feeling pretty pleased with herself, Kumiko hurried out to hide her disguise and at least make a showing in her last math class of the day.

Admittedly, none of the students seemed to realize that she had been missing, much less that she’d arrived, but she was still humming in satisfaction as she strode down the hallway to the teacher’s lounge, past a cluster of her homeroom students lounging around an open window in the corridor.

“Hey, Yamaguchi-sensei,” someone hissed and she looked over in surprise as a bottle was lightly tossed her way.

“ _YAMAGUCHI!”_ Sawada’s voice screamed.  “ _Throw it, quick!”_

Kumiko looked in her hand to see she was holding a bottle filled with liquid, and a lit fuse in the top.

“GET RID OF IT!” Sawada shouted and Kumiko hurled the bomb out the window.

A half-second later she felt someone slam into her chest, knocking her to the ground.

A half-second after that, an explosion ripped through the air, blowing all of the windows inwards and covering everyone with shards of glass.

Kumiko stared up at the ceiling.  Her ears were ringing and an arm was draped over her neck.  Red strands of hair fluttered in her peripheral vision.  “Wha…” she gasped.  “What the hell was that?  _Who was that bastard?_ ”

“I didn’t see his face,” Sawada said, pushing off her.  She felt surprisingly cold when his arm moved away.  “But it’s got to be Shibata, right?”

Kumiko stared at Sawada for a moment, taking in the blood dripping from a cut on his cheek.  She turned to the other boys, who were curled up in pain and holding their heads, except for Ucchi, who was staring blankly at the opposite wall, clearly too much in shock to register the large blades of glass caught in his curly hair.

“That bastard,” Kumiko breathed.  “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“You’re not going to have the chance,” Sawada said.  “They’ve probably already called the police.”

Kumiko cursed and went running toward the teacher’s lounge.  There she found the vice principal and the teachers discussing calling the police.  “Wait!” she shouted.  “Don’t call the police yet!  I know who the culprit is.  Let me handle it.”

Without giving them the chance to disagree, she sprinted back out the door.  She remembered where 3-4 used to hang out before they took over the roof; with any luck, Shibata’s gang would have taken over the hideaway spot under the bridge.

Luck was with her.  Shibata and one of his thugs were sitting next to the bridge, smoking cigarettes and trying to look cool.

Kumiko rolled her eyes at the display.  “Shibata!”

The boy looked over as she jumped down the incline to stand in front of them.  “I was looking for you, brat.”

Shibata adopted a patently unbelievable blank expression.  “And you are?”

“Don’t even try it,” Kumiko said flatly.  She lifted an eyebrow.  “You did something stupid today.”

She could tell from his expression that he was debating whether he should keep pleading innocence.  Instead, he said, “I can’t believe you’re not even injured.  After all of that effort I went through putting together that bomb.”

Suddenly he smirked.  “You think I’m an idiot?  I knew you’d find me.” 

He whistled and three more thugs suddenly showed up.  “ _You’re_ the idiot,” Shibata said.  “And now you’ll find out who’s really the smart one here.  This is the teacher I was telling you about, guys!  Show her who’s boss.”

Kumiko eyed the four thugs, utterly unimpressed.  “You want to rumble?” she said sardonically.  “Let’s rumble.”

It took less than a minute to put all four boys down, but that was still time for Shibata to run up the embankment and head for the bridge.

Kumiko cursed and dropped the last boy, running up the grassy slope.  “Stop!” she shouted.  “Don’t run, you bastard!”

In the distance, she heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like the vice principal calling her name.  Hopefully that meant he hadn’t called the police, but she didn’t have time to worry about it now.  Shibata had run out to the middle of the bridge and climbed up on the railing.

“Don’t get any closer!” he shouted.

“What are you doing?” the vice principal shrieked.  “Get down from there, right now!”  He must’ve put on an impressive burst of speed, because he got to the middle of the bridge just a few seconds after Kumiko did.  Just behind the vice principal was Sawada, who was apparently physically incapable of keeping his nose out of other people’s business.

“Don’t move!” the vice principal said.  “You could get hurt!”

“So what?” Shibata retorted.  “What does it matter if I live or die?  Everyone would be better off if I was gone.”

“What a load of horseshit,” Kumiko said flatly.  “What even brought this on?”

Everyone stared at her for a moment.  “S-shut _up_!” Shibata screamed.  “This has nothing to do with you!  Don’t you dare come any closer!”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another bomb.

Kumiko sighed.

“If you come any closer, I’ll light it!” Shibata said.  “I swear I will!”  He pulled out a lighter and held a flame just a few millimeters from the fuse.

The vice principal spluttered for a few seconds before turning to Kumiko.  “Yamaguchi-sensei!  What is going on here?”

Kumiko didn’t bother to answer such a stupid question.

The vice principal turned to Shibata.  “And you!  Stop being so stupid and—”

“Don’t come any closer or I s—shit!”

Kumiko looked at the bomb and saw that Shibata had lit it.  From the expression on his face, it hadn’t been intentional.

She swore.  “Sawada!”

“Yeah?”

“Take care of the brat.”

Trusting Sawada to do what needed to be done, Kumiko jumped forward into a flying kick, knocking the bomb out of Shibata’s hand and sending it flying over the river.  She fell to the ground as the bomb exploded overhead and Sawada grabbed Shibata’s ankle just before Shibata fell into the river.

The vice principal fainted.

Kumiko stepped up next to Sawada.  “Excellent work!  Just what I planned.”

“Shut up!” he said desperately.  “Give me a hand!  He’s about to fall!”

Kumiko glanced over the railing.  “Hey, Shibata.  You still want to die?  I can have Sawada here let you go.  The drop’ll probably kill you.”

Next to her, Sawada muttered something indescribably filthy.  Kumiko was actually a little impressed.

Just below them, Shibata started begging.  “Please!  I don’t want to die.  I’m sorry, please.  Please save me!”

“Oh, fine,” Kumiko said, reaching over to help Sawada pull Shibata over the side of the railing. 

The moment he was on firm ground, Shibata stumbled off the bridge and back down to the embankment, collapsing on the grass.  Kumiko followed sedately, and dropped down next to Shibata.  Behind her she could hear Sawada settling down as well.  _Such_ a nosy man.

Turning her attention to Shibata she asked, “You alright?”

He let out a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a sob.  “What kind of crazy person are you?”

Sawada let out a snort.

“What about you?” Kumiko asked.  She thought about what she’d read in his file.  “Your father’s a college professor and your mother’s in government.”

Shibata snarled.  “Yeah, and my brother and sister are shining academic stars.  They’re going to Akahana prep school.”

Kumiko let out a low whistle.  That was the elite of the elite.

“And I fail at everything,” Shibata said bitterly.  “The only high school I could get in was Shirokin.  Seemed pointless to try after that.”

“Fuck that,” Kumiko said.  “There’s nothing wrong with you just because you’re going to Shirokin.”

“Ha,” Shibata said flatly.  “You should have heard my parents talking.  I’m such an embarrassment to them that they were thinking of sending me out of the country, just so no one could see what a pathetic failure I am.”

Kumiko gritted her teeth, her anger finding a new outlet.  “That is unforgivable.”

“Exactly.  That’s why I decided to keep causing problems for them, trying to get myself arrested.”

Kumiko rolled her eyes, her anger redirecting back to Shibata.  “Don’t be an idiot.  If you get yourself arrested, the only person who loses is you.”

“I’m not interested in a sermon,” Shibata grumbled.

“I’m not giving one,” Kumiko shot back.  “I’m saying, the best way to get back at your parents is to enjoy the hell out of going to Shirokin.  Make some friends.  Find some hobbies.  Figure out what you really love to do.  Forget the life your parents mapped out for you and find your own path.  The path that _you_ choose.”

“…sensei.” 

Kumiko, Shibata, and Sawada all looked up to see the vice principal staring down at them from the bridge.  Kumiko held her breath for a second, until the vice principal nodded at her.  “I’ll leave this in your hands,” he said, and walked away.

Kumiko turned back to Shibata.  “Well?”

“Well, what?” he grumbled back, but Kumiko could see that her words had sunk in, even if his pride couldn’t acknowledge it just yet.

She clapped him on the shoulder.  “Come on.  I’ll walk you home.”

Shibata looked at her out of the corner of his eye.  “You’d better not.  If my mom found out what you did, she’d try to get you arrested.”

Kumiko instinctively flinched back at the thought.

For some reason, that seemed to put Shibata in a better mood.  “Anyway, I’ll be fine.”  He stood and turned to climb the embankment, then hesitated.  Turning back, he bowed slightly.  “Thank you, Sensei.”

Without waiting for a reply, he scrambled up the embankment and ran away.

Sawada snorted.  “Sometimes I think you’re actually able to work miracles.”

“Funny,” Kumiko said dryly, though internally she was cheering.  Sawada must have forgiven her if he was teasing her again.  “What were you doing here, anyway?”

“I couldn’t let the vice principal have all the fun, now could I?” Sawada asked, climbing to his feet.  “Come on.  You’re going to miss your train.”

Kumiko followed him up the embankment, oddly pleased at the thought that he knew what train she took home.  “What about you?” she asked.  “Are the guys going to be worried about you?”

He shook his head.  “I’ll call Kuma when I get home.  He’ll let everyone else know I’m fine.”

“Great!  Then you can walk me to the station while telling me all about your plans for college after Shirokin.”

He groaned loudly, but she saw the smile he tried to hide and he didn’t try to escape, even though she did pester him about college all the way to the station.


	28. Old Friends, Old Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to CappuccettoRosso for the beta! (Fun fact: this is her favorite chapter.)

The closer Shin got to graduation, the faster time flowed.  New year came and went with a farcical trip to Yamaguchi’s house with the guys.  They weren’t as oblivious as Kuma, but thankfully they were oblivious enough to consider Yamaguchi’s family as merely “weird”, rather than “clearly yakuza”.

On the way home, Noda commented, “I guess it’s not unexpected.  Yankumi’s too strange to have come from a normal family.”

The other boys agreed.  Shin shook his head and left them to enjoy the holiday while he went back home to work on his latest pile of college prep study books.

He hadn’t told anyone about the study books yet, not even Yamaguchi.  _Especially_ not Yamaguchi, because if she found out he was doing college prep, she’d hound him into the grave with her well-intentioned support.  Shin wasn’t ready for support.  He wasn’t even sure he was ready for college.  All he was willing to commit to at the moment was keeping his options open.

They were only a few months from graduation when Kuma called Shin and asked him to come to the hospital.  Shin bolted out the door without bothering to ask what was going on.  Kuma was better at communication face-to-face.

Kuma was waiting for Shin at the hospital door, apparently unscathed.  Shin paused to catch his breath – it was a long distance for a sprint – before asking, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s my mom,” Kuma said grimly.

Shin’s heart dropped.  “Is she hurt?”

“She collapsed at work.  The doctors say it’s probably exhaustion, but they’re keeping her in the hospital to do some tests.”  Kuma stopped, though it was clear he had more to say.

Shin looked around the lobby, where there were a lot of potential eavesdroppers.  “Come on.  Let’s find someplace quieter.”

They ended up in an empty, out-of-the-way waiting room and they had barely sat down before Kuma announced, “I’m quitting school.”

“What?”  Shin stared at him.  “We’re almost at graduation!”

“I know,” Kuma said.  “But my mom’s all I have left, and she’s working too hard to pay off dad’s old debts.  If anything happened to her I…”  He shook his head.  “Anyway, I’m going to quit school and get a job.”

“Kuma…”

“It’s not like I really care about graduating, you know.  I mean, I wanted to graduate with you guys, but it’s not as important as making sure my mom doesn’t suffer anymore.”

“I get how you feel,” Shin said, “But how do you think your mom would feel if you didn’t graduate?”

“She’s working so hard so you can graduate.  Wouldn’t she be sad if you didn’t?” Yamaguchi added.

Shin turned so fast he nearly fell out of his seat.  Sure enough, there was Yamaguchi, sitting on the bench behind them.

“Yankumi,” Kuma yelped.  “What’re you doing here?”

“The best thing you can do for your mother right now is graduate,” Yamaguchi said, utterly ignoring Kuma’s question.  “It’ll take some effort, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Yeah, but…”  Kuma ducked his head.  “We owe money.  And now there’s going to be a big hospital bill…”

“Maybe my dad can do something,” Shin said, though he dreaded the thought of that conversation.

“Don’t be stupid,” Yamaguchi said.  “Kuma’s mom isn’t the type to accept charity.”

Shin opened his mouth, then closed it again.  Yamaguchi wasn’t wrong.

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.

Yamaguchi suddenly stood up.  “I’ve got it!  A way to make money without quitting school!  But, Kuma, you’re going to have to try very hard!”

“I’ll do my best!” Kuma promised.

Shin sighed and resigned himself to another misadventure.

~~~

The next morning, Kuma stayed at the hospital, and Yamaguchi went to school to rouse the troops.  Shin had debated where he’d be most useful, and opted for school.  For once, Yamaguchi’s plan wasn’t terrible, but it was going to ask a lot of the other students.  This might be the time that Yamaguchi’s persuasiveness finally met its match.

Yamaguchi started off by explaining the situation, ending with, “Kuma is planning to quit school and start working.  You all know that his dad is gone and all he has left is his mother.  But I think, more than anyone here, Kuma has dreamed of graduating together with you guys.  So… does anyone know of a part time job that would allow him to come to school and still make reasonably good money?”

Shin was impressed.  By Yamaguchi’s standards, this was practically subtle.

The guys weren’t very helpful.  “There’s not a lot of part time jobs,” Minami pointed out.

“Especially jobs that Kuma can do,” Noda added.

Everyone agreed with that and, after some discussion, decided that, as Kuma didn’t have the brains for office work and wasn’t necessarily to be trusted around food, he’d have to find a job that required manual labor.

“Hey,” one guy called out.  “How much does he need?”

“For this month, just two hundred and fifty thousand yen.”

The whole room went silent for a moment, then burst out in indignant response.

“There’s no way!” one guy shouted.

“There’s only a week left!” another boy added, which Shin had to acknowledge was a fair point.  Working at minimum wage, it would take nearly two months of full-time work to get 250,000 yen.

“I know of something,” one guy said.  It was Shoma, who sometimes hung out with Shin’s group when he wasn’t out hustling money.  “You can make a million yen in a month.”

Everyone stared at him suspiciously.  “How?” Ucchi asked.

“Selling health products to senior citizens,” Shoma said.  “They’re really gullible.”

If looks could kill, Shoma would be a ghost.  “I won’t forgive _anyone_ who takes advantage of an elderly person!” Yamaguchi shouted.

Shoma’s eyes widened.  “Just kidding,” he said meekly.

“The money needs to be honest!  To come from working hard!  If you deceive others, your parents won’t be happy!  The money won’t be good!”

Everyone stared at her like she was nuts.

“Well, anyway, think about it, everyone.”

She marched out the door, entirely ignoring the fact that there was still a good twenty minutes in class.

Shin sighed and looked around the room full of chastened boys.  Normally he wasn’t much interested in telling people what to do, but there wasn’t enough time left for Yamaguchi’s slow play.  “Well?” he asked quietly.  “What are we going to do?”

“There’s no way Kuma can get that much money in a week,” Minami said flatly.

Of course, that was true.  Shin kept his mouth closed and waited for the class to come to the obvious answer.

“He’ll need help,” Ucchi said.

“Yeah,” Noda said thoughtfully.  “Hey, I have an idea.”

Shin ducked his head and grinned.

~~~

If people paid for good intentions, the 250,000 would have been in the bag.  A local construction company heard about Kuma’s situation and not only hired Kuma, but Shin, Uuchi, and Inuzuka as well, though Kuma – who’d gotten permission to take the week off from school while his mom was in the hospital – worked the day shift and the other guys had to settle for the night shift.  Based on Shin’s wage, Shin figured the four of them were good for 70,000-80,000 yen.

Unfortunately, not everyone else was so gainfully employed.  More than half the class got fired from their various jobs without getting paid, due to starting fights within their first hour of work.  After an entire week, Shibata and Sonomura’s lame glam rock band brought in 840 yen, which was just slightly more than they would have made if one of them had worked an hour at a minimum wage job.  A few guys tried to win prize money in eating contests, but got sick.  Even Kuma lost them a few thousand yen by quitting on his first day, though after he saw how hard everyone was working to help him, he got his job back by begging the manager.

In the end, they ended up with 90,000, which was more money than most of the class ever saw at one time, but wasn’t even halfway to what they needed.  Everyone was in the courtyard, fighting about their failure, when a familiar voice said, “Ninety thousand yen.  Aren’t you guys rich.”

Shin turned to see Carlos standing behind him.

The boxing team – minus Shin – broke out in excited chattering, asking where Carlos had disappeared to.  Carlos talked some nonsense about a “fight you can’t come home from”, which everyone assumed was some sort of tournament abroad and which Shin assumed meant prison.

“Anyway,” Carlos said when the questions were starting to get pointed.  “What are you assholes doing here, anyway?  What’s the money for?”

Everyone broke out in speech.  Eventually Noda outlasted the group and got the privilege of telling Kuma’s story.

Carlos dropped down on a bench and sighed.  “What a mess!  But…” He looked thoughtful.  “What you need to do is double your money!”

Shin rolled his eyes.

“Um… that wouldn’t be enough,” Noda pointed out.

“Then triple it!  Multiply it by ten!”

Shin eyed him suspiciously.  “What are you thinking?”

And that’s how they ended up at the racetrack.

~~~

Shin refused to go to the hospital to give Kuma’s mom their winnings.  Yamaguchi would never let him live it down.

~~~

With Kuma’s family debt paid off and 3-4 strutting about the school, crowing over their good deed, Shin was ready for life to get back to normal, or as normal as life ever was when Yamaguchi was around.

Instead, someone shot up Yamaguchi’s house.

As usual for a Saturday, Shin had woken up mid-afternoon.  He’d turned on the news for some background noise while he woke up, and the first thing he heard was about the attack on the Kuroda Family’s house.

“Well, shit,” he muttered to himself, and hurried to get dressed.

By the time he managed to make his way to Yamaguchi’s house and past the outer layers of security, it was after dark.  The moment he stepped into the inner courtyard, something hard and metallic was jammed into the side of his temple.

Shin froze.

“Who the hell are you?” a suit-clad thug shouted.

_Shit_ , Shin thought.  He didn’t know this guy!

“Hey, wait up!” a familiar voice called.  “That’s Young Master Red Lion.”

“Kyou-san!” Shin said, trying to sound cool, despite the gun at his head.

Kyou glared at the thug, who lowered his gun.

“Sorry about that,” Kyou said to Shin.  “Something’s happened and now everyone’s out for blood.”

“I know.  I saw it on the news.”

Kyou winced.  “Yeah, well… there’s something else.  You better come inside.”

Shin followed Kyou into the house, trying to ignore all of the murmuring about the “young master” that followed in their wake.

The moment they were out of earshot, Kyou said, “Shinohara-sensei’s been kidnapped.”

“What?” Shin yelped.  “Why?  Who did it?”

“I don’t know,” Kyou said grimly.  “But when I find out, someone’s gonna bleed.”

Shin frowned.  “Have you heard from the kidnappers?  What do they want?”

“They want the Kuroda Family to disband.  By tomorrow.”

Shin stared at him incredulously.  “Are you kidding me?  Who are these guys?”

“Probably someone who wants our territory.  If we break up, the rest of the members will fall apart.  It’ll be the end of the entire group.”  He swore vociferously.  “And we can’t fucking do anything, or they’ll see!”

Shin considered that.  There seemed to be an obvious answer.  “Can’t you just announce a dissolution now and regroup once you have Shinohara back?”

“You idiot!” Kyou shouted, looking overwrought and deeply disappointed in Shin.  “If the boss announces we’re breaking up, we’re over!  You can’t come back from that shame!”

“That’s troublesome,” Shin said, though privately he thought a man’s life was more important than some shame.  He hesitated, but there was one piece of information that he wanted and it didn’t sound like Kyou was going to get there without some prodding.  “How’s she doing?”

Kyou hesitated.

Shin frowned at him.  “What?”

“…Ojou didn’t take it very well.  The shock…”

Shin sighed.  “Show me.”

Kyou led Shin into a room near the back of the house, where they found Yamaguchi kneeling on the floor and staring at an ugly statue with a blank expression on her face.  Shin crouched down in front of her and waved a hand in her face.  She didn’t even blink

“She’s been like this since we found out.”

“Hm.”  He poked her in the cheek.  “Hey, Yamaguchi.”  No response.  He opened his mouth, glanced at Kyou, then shifted to whisper in her ear, “Your glasses are ugly.”

Still no response.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Kyou said as Shin looked around the room thoughtfully.  There were a couple of swords on a rack next to the ugly statue.  “She’s not aware of anything.”

Shin picked up a sword and swung it at Yamaguchi as hard as he could, sheath and all.

Yamaguchi’s hand snapped up, catching the sword.  “What the… Sawada?  What are you doing?”

“What are _you_ doing?” Shin retorted.  “This isn’t the time for you to be sitting around doing nothing!  Shinohara needs your help!”

“I can’t do anything!” she shouted back.  “If they see us do anything suspicious, they’ll kill him!”

“ _I_ don’t look suspicious.  _You_ don’t look suspicious.”  Shin looked at the door, where the shitty dog was standing.  “He _mostly_ doesn’t look suspicious.”  Shin looked at the dog more closely.  “Huh.  Police use dogs to find people, don’t they?”

Everyone stared at Fuji, even Kyou, who had watched the previous conversation with uncharacteristic tact.

“Okay!” Yamaguchi finally said.  “I have an idea.”

Shin sighed.

~~~

Yamaguchi was on a roll, Shin thought as he loitered near the back door of the Kuroda house.  This was two plans in a row that weren’t completely awful.

Then Yamaguchi came out wearing a cute outfit and with her hair up in girlish knots.  “Sorry for making you wait,” she said in a sickly sweet voice, and Shin rethought the awfulness of the plan.

“Don’t look so serious,” she whispered as she got closer.  Louder she added, in that awful girly voice, “Thank you for going on a walk with me and Poochi-coo!”

“I think you might be overdoing it just a bit,” Shin said back.

Yamaguchi glared at him.  Shin rolled his eyes.  “Fine.  Let’s go, Poochi.”

Yamaguchi immediately grabbed Shin by the hand, and he froze.  “Someone might be watching us,” she hissed under her breath.  “We can’t make any mistakes!  Sensei’s life is on the line!”

Fucking Shinohara.  It was always about Shinohara.

Shin grabbed Fuji’s leash.  “Come on, Poochi.  Let’s run.”

“Wait!” Yamaguchi called out, her girly voice slipping slightly.  “Wait for me!”

Of course, the moment Yamaguchi got serious about the running, she pulled ahead of Shin.  Shin let out an irritated huff and did his best to keep up as Yamaguchi led him to a tall, modern apartment building.

Shin looked around for potential spies, but they were a couple of miles from the Kuroda house and Shin hadn’t seen anyone following them.  It was safe enough for him to ask outright, “Is this Shinohara’s apartment?”

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi said, her girly voice thankfully gone.  “We know he left his apartment sometime this morning.  Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened next.  He might’ve caught a cab, but hopefully he was on foot.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a square of fabric.  “Here Fuji, smell this.”  She glanced up ap at Shin.  “It’s Shinohara-sensei’s handkerchief.”

Shin bit his lip and refused to ask why she happened to have Shinohara’s handkerchief just lying around.

~~~

The next couple of hours were deeply frustrating.  Fuji proved to be next to useless as a tracker, and Yamaguchi’s mood got filthier and filthier as Fuji led them to a pile of puppies, a box of pornography, and a dumpster full of discarded food.

Shin’s mood wasn’t much better.  Shinohara might be irritatingly perfect and the object of Yamaguchi’s affections, but Shin didn’t want to see anything happen to him.  If nothing else, he was the only person in the Kuroda group capable of long-term critical thinking.

And, well… after all of those nights studying together, Shin had to admit, if only to himself, that he liked the guy.  If Yamaguchi didn’t have such a huge crush on him, Shinohara and Shin could’ve been friends.

It was with a very short temper that Shin followed Fuji to a mansion.  “Another fucking dead end,” he growled.  “He’s just wasting our time.”

“No,” Yamaguchi said thoughtfully, reading the nameplate next to the front gate.  “Kujira.  That sounds familiar.  I was just a teenager then, but I think there was a dispute between this group and Kuroda.  They captured Kyou.”

“Really?” Shin said skeptically.

“It didn’t go well for them,” Yamaguchi said, in what was undoubtedly a massive understatement.  “In the end they lost a lot of influence.  Though I’m not sure why they’d hold a grudge against Grandpa instead of Kyou.”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it?  If Shinohara might be here, we’re going to have to figure out how to get inside.”

“We’ll go over the wall,” Yamaguchi said, leading Shin away from the gate and around the corner, where they weren’t visible from the street.  “Here.”

Shin eyed the wall.  It was at least a meter taller than he was, and there was nothing he could hang on to, to help him climb.  “Come on,” she said, cupping her hands.  “I’ll give you a lift.”

“I’m fine,” Shin lied, and jumped up as high as he could, grabbing for the top of the wall.  It took a couple of tries and his ascent wasn’t terribly dignified, but it was still better than Yamaguchi tossing him over like a girl.

Of course, then she tossed over Fuji and Shin nearly got knocked down trying to catch him.  By the time he managed to get himself and the dog safely on the ground, Yamaguchi was standing next to them, looking utterly unruffled.

She could be really annoying sometimes.

A low growl broke into his thoughts and he looked over to see guard dogs standing just a few feet away, their lips pulled back to show their teeth.  “Oh, shit,” Shin said.

“It’s not a problem.  Fuji’ll take care of them.”

“But there’s three of them!”

Yamaguchi snorted.  “Who do you think trained him?  Fuji, don’t overdo it.  Just keep them from waking up the house.”

Twenty seconds later, the three guard dogs were unconscious and Fuji was looking smug.  “Good job, Fuji!” Yamaguchi said.

Shin opened his mouth to tell them to be quiet, just as they heard a voice coming from the house call out, “What’s that racket outside!”

Cursing silently, Shin crouched down and scurried over to the building.  Yamaguchi slipped in next to him, far more gracefully.

“It’s probably just a stray cat,” a second voice said.

“Don’t sound like a cat to me.  Anyway, it’s time to switch guards.”

Shin looked over at Yamaguchi, who was staring back.  _Guards?_ she mouthed.

Easing backwards, Shin positioned himself until he was at the very edge of the window before pushing himself carefully to his feet.  He peeked into the room and swallowed hard.  “He’s here.”

“What?” Yamaguchi whispered.  She got up next to him and looked into the room where Shinohara was tied up and gagged.  Next to the door was a thug reading a book.

Yamaguchi’s face filled with rage and she opened her mouth to shout.  Shin grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away from the window.  “Wait a second!” he hissed.

She glared at him, but allowed him to pull her closer to the wall.  “We need to check out the situation,” Shin said, once they were far enough away to speak without being overheard.  “It might be a trap.”

She frowned.  “You’re right.  And it’s going to be dangerous.  They’re probably armed.”  She looked at the house and then back to Shin.  “Sawada, this is as far as you go.  Take Fuji home.”

“Got it,” Shin said instantly, grabbing Fuji’s leash.  “Come on, Fuji.”

“Wait, really?” he heard Yamaguchi say behind him.

Shin smothered a smile.  For once, he got to be the one to surprise her.

Not that he was going home.  No chance was he going to leave Yamaguchi here by herself.  He just wasn’t going to give her a chance to sucker-punch him, either.  Unlike Yamaguchi, Shin was capable of learning from his mistakes.

The moment he was around the corner of the house, Shin let go of Fuji’s leash and peeked back at Yamaguchi.  As he watched, she took a running leap at the window, knocking it into the room ahead of her.

Shin groaned and hustled forward.  He got to the window just in time to see Yamaguchi knock out the guard and run toward Shinohara, shouting his name.

“Shit,” Shin said, already moving into the room when a loud click came from the floor.  Without thinking, Shin shoved Yamaguchi aside and just barely managed to jerk back to avoid getting crushed by a falling wall of bars.

There was a long pause as everyone caught their breath and stared at the four walls of bars that had dropped down from the ceiling, creating a cage.  “What the fuck is this?” Yamaguchi finally shrieked.  “Who the fuck builds something like this in their house?”

Shin lifted his eyebrows.  Yamaguchi had gotten more comfortable with him lately, but that was more swearing than he was used to in one go.

She jumped to her feet and ran forward.  “Sawada!” she shouted, grabbing the bars.  “What the hell did you do?  You idiot, you—”

“Shut up!” Shin hissed.  “Someone’s coming.”

Yamaguchi froze as the pounding of footsteps got louder.  “Damn it!”

“Go away,” Shin said fiercely.

“I’m not going to do that!  No way am I leaving the two of you!”

“Yamaguchi,” Shin said, gritting his teeth.  “You’re the one who said they had guns.  If you get trapped in here with us, we’re all screwed.”

She glared at him for a moment.  He stared back, letting her think it over.

“Shit,” she finally said, turning to the window.  “Stay strong.  I’ll be back.”

Shin shook his head as she jumped out the window and turned to remove Shinohara’s gag.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Shinohara said as Shin worked on his ropes.  “But you—”

The door to the room burst open.  Shin looked up at what had to be the slowest group of bad guys in the history of bad guys.  They were led by a hulking old man – maybe that had been what slowed them down?  And what was the deal with that old man’s ridiculous catfish moustache?

As more and more people poured in, Shin’s slight amusement faded.  Guns were everywhere, and the sheer numbers were overwhelming.

The old man scowled at him.  “Who the hell is this kid?”

Shin immediately let his face crumple into a pathetic expression.  “I’m s-sorry,” he whimpered pitifully.  “Please forgive me!”  He dropped down to his knees and curled his shoulders to make himself look small.  “I’m Shinohara’s younger brother.  When I saw him being brought here, I didn’t know what to do, so I followed.”

The old man frowned.  “So you’re not from the Kuroda family?”

“What?  No!  I mean, I’ve heard about them from my brother, but I find the whole yakuza world really scary.”  He blinked rapidly a few times, until his eyes watered enough to produce a tear, and wailed, “Please return my brother!  He’s all the family I have!”

Through damp eyelashes, he watched the bad guys.  It was clear that he’d gotten through to the low-level thugs, but the old man still looked suspicious.

“Are there any kids with the Kuroda family now?” one guy asked.

“Not supposed to be,” another one answered.

“So Kuroda doesn’t know about us.”

“They haven’t moved from the house,” a third guy said.

“Fine!” the old man shouted.  “Fine.  They’re still locked up, anyway.  Double the guard outside, just in case.”

The bad guys all trooped out again and Shin let himself relax.

“Wow,” Shinohara said.  “That was some spectacular acting.”

Shin eyed him suspiciously, but it didn’t look like Shinohara was mocking him.  “It doesn’t change the fact that we’re locked up.”

“Yeah.”  Shinohara frowned.  “How did you even get involved with this?”

“I involved myself.”

Shinohara’s lips twitched.  “Ah.  Well, sorry about getting you locked up.”

Shin just shrugged.

“What’s happening with the family?”

Shin snorted.  “What do you think’s happening?  They don’t know who they’re up against, and they couldn’t leave without risking your life.  They’re losing their shit.”

Shinohara sighed.  “I’ve caused them trouble, right up to the end.”

“The end,” Shin repeated.  “So it’s true.  You’re going home?”

“Yeah.  I’ve found a replacement lawyer and he’s getting up to speed now, so he can take my place.”

Shin thought about how the Kuroda family reacted to change, and felt sorry for the poor replacement lawyer.  Still, he didn’t have that much worry to spare over some random guy he’d never met.  There was someone much more important in the front of his mind.  Trying to sound casual, he asked, “What about Yamaguchi?  Are you taking her with you?”

Shinohara flinched.  “How could I?  She’s irreplaceable to the family.  I could never take her away from them.”

“You’re going to Hokkaido,” Shin said dryly.  “It’s two hours away.”

“But that’s not all!  Any partner of Kumiko-chan would automatically become next in line to run the group.  Even if he wasn’t interested in it, there would be expectations.  And if something goes wrong, the whole—”

“Fuck that!” Shin cut in.  “Who cares about the line of succession?  Who cares about _expectations_?  If you really liked her, that’s all that should matter!  If it were me—” he cut himself off, realizing what he was about to say.

“If it were you,” Shinohara said quietly, “You’d take her without hesitating.”

Shin looked up and locked eyes with Shinohara.  “In a heartbeat.”

They stared at each other for a moment longer before the door to the room cracked open.  “Got it,” a worryingly familiar voice said.  “We’ll be on our guard.”

The door opened all the way and Kudou stepped through.

“Son of a bitch,” Shin said under his breath.  He hadn’t seen Kudou since the time Yamaguchi had a cold and Kudou had kidnapped her.  Honestly, in the back of his mind, Shin had been hoping Kudou hadn’t survived the fallout from that fiasco.

Apparently Shin wasn’t so lucky.  The moment Kudou’s eyes landed on him, they widened in recognition.  “Sawada!  What the hell are you doing here?”

The thug who had walked in behind Kudou frowned.  “Sawada?  He said he was this guy’s brother.”

Kudou snorted.  “As if.  He’s a student at Shirokin, where Kuroda’s granddaughter teaches.”

“Damn it,” the thug said.  “I gotta get the boss.”

Shin slowly stood up.  Now that his cover was blown, he had to figure out how to stall long enough for Yamaguchi to show up and save the day.

Kudou sauntered closer to the cage.  “Didn’t expect to see you here, Sawada.”

“You, either,” Shin drawled.  “I figured you’d disappear after Nekomata broke up.”

“Those pussy wannabes.”  Kudou sneered.  “I shoulda never wasted my time with them.”

Shin just raised an eyebrow and let Kudou think over who could be considered a “wannabe” in this situation.

Kudou’s face started to flush red, just as the door to the room opened again and the old man boss stepped through.  “What’s going on here?”

Kudou smirked, his confident mask back in place.  “I hear that this guy is claiming to be the lawyer’s brother.”

“Yes?” the old man said suspiciously.

“Total lie.”

The old man’s eyes widened.  “What?”

“Yeah,” Kudou said.  “he’s actually Kuroda’s granddaughter’s sidekick.”

Shin bristled at being called someone’s sidekick, even Yamaguchi’s, but kept his mouth shut.

The old man turned a worrying shade of red.  “WHAT? _”_ he roared.

One of the thugs said, “Wait, that – that means that Kuroda knows about us?”

He sounded horrified, which Shin found deeply satisfying.

“What the hell is going on here?” the old man shouted.  He pointed a finger at Shin.  “You!  You tell me what is going on!”

Shin looked back.  “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

The old man’s face was crimson by now; maybe Shin would get lucky and the guy would die of a stroke.

Kudou stepped up next to the old man.  “Kumicho, please let me handle this.”  He grinned at Shin.  “I’ll make him talk.”

The old man frowned for a moment before nodding, setting his moustache flapping.  “Do it.  Everyone else, _triple_ the guard outside.”

Everyone but Kudou went running back out again.

_Okay_ , Shin thought.  _Time to stall._

~~~

Stall, Shin did.  He managed to kill a good chunk of time while Kudou tried to figure out how to get him out of the cage.  It helped that the cage wasn’t really designed to be raised and lowered quickly.  By standing on the bottom edge of the cage, Shin managed to throw off the system enough that the cage couldn’t be pulled back up into the ceiling.

Unfortunately, Kudou eventually caught on and pulled out his gun.  “You!” he hissed furiously, pointing the gun at Shinohara.  “Hold him in place in the middle of the cell.”

Shinohara looked between Shin and Kudou, taking his time about it.  Even considering the dire situation they were in, Shin had to bite back a smile.  This was why, despite everything, he liked Shinohara.  Without saying a word, without even hinting at his intentions, Shinohara had figured out the need to stall and was quietly doing his best.

Kudou wasn’t exactly a patient guy.  “Now!” he shrieked.

Shinohara held up his hands and then stepped forward to grab Shin.

Shin promptly fought back, jerking away and running around the cell.  Shinohara went after him, though either he was still stalling, or being tied up all day had messed with his reflexes, because he was really, really slow.

A gunshot stopped them.  Shin looked over with wide eyes, to see Kudou’s gun smoking.  He looked down and saw a bullet hole in the floor.

“No more fucking around,” Kudou growled.  “Get in the middle of the cell and _stay there_.”

Shin stepped back to the center of the cell, feeling the comforting bulk of Shinohara behind him.  It was a false comfort, though.  The stall was over.

He could only hope they’d bought Yamaguchi enough time.

~~~

What happened next was awful.  Kudou had apparently built up a lot of rage since Nekomata, and while he might not be up to shooting Shin, Kudou didn’t seem to have any qualms about beating him to death.  And it wasn’t like Shin could fight back, not with Shinohara still in that cage.

Time became a blur of bright bursts of pain followed by throbbing agony.  Shin could feel blood dripping down his face and he no longer could see well enough to tell if each burst of pain was a punch or a kick.  Eventually he couldn’t even hold himself upright, and Kudou had to haul him to his feet, just to knock him down again.

The worst of it was, Kudou wasn’t even asking any questions.  Clearly he’d gone past caring about his future in the Kujira group.  All that mattered to him now was his lust for blood.

Shin felt his body slam against the wall and his vision blacked out for a moment.  When he opened his eyes again, Yamaguchi was holding a sword to Kudou’s neck.

Shin blinked slowly, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Yamaguchi yanked a gun from Kudou’s hand and threw it aside.  “Clench your teeth,” she said.

Kudou’s eyes widened.  “Wh-no!”

“Clench your teeth,” she gritted.  “This is something you’re going to remember for the rest of your life.”

Kudou hesitated, then slowly clenched his teeth.

Yamaguchi slammed her fist into his cheek, hard enough to knock him into the wall.  Broken bits of teeth went spraying across the floor as Kudou dropped down, unconscious.

Shin stared.  He thought he’d seen Yamaguchi’s wrath before.  He’d seen her rage and yell and vow revenge.

He’d never seen this ruthlessness.  He never would have guessed her anger could burn so hot that it burnt itself out, into an ice-cold fury.

Yamaguchi stared down at Kudou dispassionately.  “Just another idiot who doesn’t know how to do anything but be a thug.”

“Why’d it get so quiet in there?” a voice called out from the hallway.  “Did you actually kill him?”

Another thug stepped into the room and gaped.  “Who the hell are you?” he asked Yamaguchi.

She turned to him, radiating confidence and pride.  “I am third generation Kuroda family,” she said, and her voice rang with the strength of her ancestors.  “I am Kuroda Ryuichirou’s grandchild, Yamaguchi Kumiko.”

“She’ll do,” the old man boss said, stepping into the room.  “Hell, it’s better than I expected!  Kuroda’s precious granddaughter comes rushing in of her own free will!”

Shin felt a rush of adrenaline at that statement, but it was more than his body could handle and he lost a few minutes to a hazy greyness that hovered on the edge of unconsciousness.

Vaguely, he felt a small, strong hand haul him to his feet and pull his arm over a pair of slim shoulders.  He walked forward blindly for a few steps before a larger hand took his arm and he was switched to a broad set of shoulders several inches taller than his own.  It wasn’t nearly as comfortable as holding on to Yamaguchi, but Shin wasn’t exactly in a position to complain.

Around him there were sounds of a scuffle, of shouting, and even, at one point, a high-pitched shriek.

Confident that Yamaguchi was taking care of business, Shin let himself lean against Shinohara and wait for it all to be over.

~~~

The cool night air helped revive Shin a bit.  He woke up enough to register Yamaguchi’s order to take Kudou to the Kuroda house to “make him a better man”.

Shin couldn’t help but laugh.

“What is it?” Shinohara asked quietly.  He was still holding Shin up with that steady reliability that had gotten Shin through two months of tutoring for an exam that he’d taken and aced on Yamaguchi’s orders.

Shin managed a small smile.  “She took charge of a troublemaker.”

“Yep.  It looks like she did.”  Shinohara sighed.  “This is going to cause trouble.”

Shin groaned and shifted his weight.  “Are you worried about what will happen after you’re gone?”

“A little.”  Shinohara’s voice turned rueful.  “Kuroda men look fierce, and they’re greatly feared, but they are lacking something important.”

“At least one person who uses his head?” Shin suggested.

“Maybe,” Shinohara said with mild amusement.

And somehow, despite his strength, despite his reliability, Shinohara still couldn’t bring himself to stay.  Maybe his morality was flexible enough to work for the yakuza, but not enough to lead them.  Maybe he really didn’t love Yamaguchi as much as Shin thought he did.  Maybe he just really missed his family.

Whatever the reason, this was one area where Shinohara wasn’t the man that Shin expected him to be.  Which meant that there were no more excuses.

It was time for Shin to step up.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay?” Shinohara repeated.

“Okay.  Go home to Hokkaido.  Take care of your parents.”

Silently, Shin added, _Leave the rest to me._


	29. Fallout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to CappuccettoRosso for the beta! Also, note that we have a final chapter count now.

Kumiko left Kudou to Tetsu’s tender mercies and ran to the car that was headed to the hospital.  Shinohara had gotten Shin into the backseat and was bending down to follow when she grabbed his shoulder.  “I’ll ride with him.”

Shinohara just looked at her for a moment before nodding and heading around the car to get in the front seat.  Kumiko glanced into the car to see that Shin was leaning against the opposite window, leaving more than half of the back seat free.  She got in quickly and slapped the roof.  “Go.”

The driver started driving without a word.

Shinohara twisted around.  “How’s he doing?”

Kumiko slid to the middle of the seat, until she was close enough to take Shin’s wrist in her hand.  It took a few seconds, but she found his pulse.  “Still with us.”  She hesitated for a moment, then gently pulled him toward her, until he was slumped against her side, his head on her shoulder.  He felt more real this way.  More alive.

“Five minutes out,” the driver said.

“I’ll call the hospital,” Shinohara said.  “Make sure they’re ready.”

Kumiko absently thanked them.  Most of her attention was on Shin.  She ran fingers lightly over his face, checking his injuries.  The skin was swollen and hot to the touch, but she couldn’t feel any bone fractures, even around the edges of his eyes.  He probably had a concussion and by the next morning his entire face would be covered in bruises, but at least the bones were whole.

Feeling a little better, Kumiko used her free hand to test for injuries on Shin’s arms and torso.  The most worrying spot was his stomach – the skin there was firmer than it should be, which could mean internal bleeding, or just a really deep bruise.

With a sigh, Kumiko wrapped an arm around Shin and held him safely against her side all the way to the hospital.

~~~

There were doctors waiting for them at the door.  Shinohara pulled Kumiko back when she tried to help load Shin onto the gurney.

“You care for him,” Shinohara said as they wearily made their way to the waiting room.

“He’s my student,” Kumiko answered simply.

“He’s special.”

Kumiko just lifted a shoulder.  Of course Shin was special.  Everyone could see that.  And if he died because he got caught up in her world again…

“He’ll be all right,” Shinohara said.

Kumiko just bowed her head and prayed.

~~~

The doctors came out an hour later.  There was a brief flurry of questions about relationship, but that stopped when Kumiko told them who she was.

“You’re listed as his next of kin?” Shinohara asked, looking stunned.

Kumiko shrugged.  Shin didn’t want his parents to know when he was injured, because that would jeopardize his hard-won independence, but she didn’t think she should say so in front of the doctors.  Besides, nearly all of his hospital visits were yakuza-related, so Kumiko was picking up the bill, anyway.  “How is he?” she asked instead.

“He’ll be fine,” the head doctor said immediately, which was reassuring.  “But he does have some serious injuries, including a concussion, two cracked ribs, and minor internal bleeding.”

Kumiko couldn’t quite hold back a flinch.  Shinohara shifted until he was standing close enough that she could feel his body heat.  “How long will it take for him to get better?”

“The cracked ribs will take the longest, potentially as long as six weeks, but probably shorter.  Recovery from the concussion could take as long as ten days, especially as his file indicates that he has had a concussion before.”

The second doctor, a woman, spoke then.  “He’s been in the hospital a number of times,” she said delicately.  “Especially in the last two years.”

“I know,” Kumiko said bitterly.  “He keeps sticking his nose into dangerous business, no matter how many times he’s told not to.”

The two doctors exchanged a glance, then looked at Shinohara.  Kumiko glanced over her shoulder to see that Shinohara had changed his body language, hunching down a bit to emphasize his muscles and glowering through the bruises on his face.

She felt a shock at the sight.  It was the first time she’d ever looked at him and thought, “That’s a yakuza thug.”

“Right,” the female doctor said, and though she didn’t move an inch, there was suddenly a distance between them.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand.”

Kumiko thought about protesting at their obvious assumption, but stopped herself.  It’s not like they were wrong.  Shin’s injuries _were_ caused by the yakuza.  On the other hand, they clearly thought Shin _was_ yakuza, and if that changed the way they treated him… “When can I take him home?” she asked abruptly.

“Oh,” the male doctor said, looking nervous.  “Well, we’re treating the internal bleeding now.  As long as there’s someone who can help him until he’s recovered from the concussion and his ribs begin to heal, he could leave in the morning.”

Kumiko nodded her head sharply.  “We’ll do that.”

~~~

“No,” Shin said, when he finally woke up long enough to hear the plan.

Kumiko frowned at him.  “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“Exactly what I said.  I’m not going back to the house.”

“Why not?”

He turned his head so that he wasn’t looking at her.  “Kudou’s there, isn’t he?”

That brought her up short.  “Oh.”

“Yeah.”  He shifted uncomfortably on the narrow bed.  “I’ll be fine at my place.”

She frowned.  “The doctors said you shouldn’t be alone.”

He rolled the eye that wasn’t swollen shut.  “I’ll be fine.”

She crossed her arms.  “I’ll stay with you.”

He looked at her incredulously.  “I live in a studio!”

“You can’t be alone,” she countered.  “It’ll just be for two weeks.”

“No way!”

“What if I stayed with you?” Shinohara asked.

Kumiko jumped slightly.  She’d forgotten that Shinohara was in the room.

Shin looked over her shoulder to Shinohara, clearly thinking the prospect over.  “One week.”

“One week!” Kumiko protested.

“Kumiko-chan,” Shinohara said calmly.

She scowled, but bit her tongue.

“One week, but you stay in the hospital for three days first,” Shinohara said to Shin.  Before Kumiko could protest that it wasn’t safe, he added, “We’ll have someone on watch.”

Shin frowned.  “I don’t need a guard.”

“You do,” Shinohara answered, implacably.  “Until we know how Kujira is going to react to last night’s incident, everyone is going to have a guard.  Even Kumiko-chan.”

Kumiko opened her mouth to protest, then eyed Shin’s stubborn expression and changed what she was going to say.  “Taking risks now would put the whole group in danger.  We can’t become liabilities.”

Shin looked skeptical, but reluctantly nodded.

“Good,” Shinohara said.  “I’m going to call the boss to make arrangements.  Kumiko-chan, can you stay with Sawada-kun until a guard can be arranged?”

“Of course,” she answered.  “I’m not leaving.”

“You’ve got school tomorrow,” Shin said, his voice rougher than before.  When she looked at him, she saw his open eye starting to droop with exhaustion.

Unfortunately, he did have a point.  Turning to Shinohara, she announced, “I’ll take the afternoon shifts.”  Between herself and whoever ended up guarding her, Shin would be safe.

Shinohara considered that for a moment, then nodded.  “I’ll get someone here soon, so you can go home and get some rest.”

“Okay.”  She narrowed her eyes.  “Don’t forget that you need a guard, too.  You were just kidnapped.”

He smiled.  “I won’t forget.”  He nodded to her and stepped out into the hall.

Kumiko turned back to find that Shin had fallen asleep.  She sighed and dropped down into the chair next to the bed, settling in to watch over her student.

~~~

The beauty and the challenge of being a teacher was that Kumiko always had more than one student to worry about.  While she was in the hospital, her attention was on Shin, but on her way home, she started to think about the Problem of Kudou.

Kudou was a far more multi-faceted problem than she usually had to deal with.  On top of the typical teenage boy drama that she was used to from her time at Shirokin, there was also the fact that Kudou was somewhere between a yakuza recruit and a prisoner of war, so not only would he have to be broken down and trained back up, but he was going to have to do it while under constant watch to make sure he didn’t run away.

Part of her wanted to let him run.  Kudou was the direct cause of the disbanding of not one, but _two_ yakuza families.  Outside of the protection of the Kuroda house, his life expectancy would be measured in days, if not hours.

Still, he had been a Shirokin student, which meant he was her responsibility.  So, despite the fact that she was shaking with exhaustion, she set her alarm to wake her up in two hours.  There was a lot that had to be done before she went back to work on Monday.

Her eyes felt gritty and her limbs heavy when she woke up.  It was still dark outside, and she weaved a little as she made her way to the kitchen to make coffee.  Normally she didn’t drink coffee, preferring tea, but today she needed the extra caffeine.

She settled down in the ima to create a plan for Kudou.  Most of the actual training was going to be left to the guys – there was a process for training new recruits that had been honed through the experiences of hundreds of Kuroda men over the decades.  A recruit that didn’t want to join the family was a new wrinkle, however, and Kumiko had to make sure she thought through every possible outcome.

First step: attempts to escape.  Fortunately, Kudou would find this harder than expected.  The Kuroda house was intentionally designed to make it hard to get in and hard to get out, with only two visible entrances, and one invisible escape route that Kudou wouldn’t be able to find without knowing where it was.

The front entrance went through the ima, which always had at least one person in it, so that was okay.  The back entrance went through the kitchen, which was Minoru’s domain.  Someday Kudou would be tasked with helping Minoru, but until they could trust that he wouldn’t try to poison them, any sign of Kudou in the kitchen would be an attempt to escape.  Just to be on the safe side, she’d also make sure Fuji was patrolling the grounds.

That took care of the most likely risks.  Still, she couldn’t guarantee that Kudou would never manage to get off the property, and as soon as he did, he was a sitting duck.  This meant she needed two things: a way to identify Kudou as under her protection, and a way to get him to come back to the house if he somehow managed to get out.

Kumiko rubbed her tired eyes and kept on working.

~~~

By the end of the day, Kudou was mostly under control.  Kumiko had let the boys wake him up in the usual new-recruit fashion, which involved some minor bruising of both his face and his pride.  Then she’d pushed off her exhaustion and put on a mantle of chirpy cheerfulness as she made him understand his situation.

This required a bit more bruising.  The boys did not take kindly to threats against their Ojou.

Kumiko carefully did not lay a hand on him.  As a teacher, one of her first responsibilities was to build trust with her students.  These days, she might be able to playfully smack one of her Shirokin boys, but if she’d beaten them when they first met her, she would never have gained their trust.  Kudou had to learn to associate her with safety.  While Kumiko didn’t regret punching him at the Kujira house, it meant that getting Kudou to trust her was going to take quite a bit of time and patience.

She also gave him a hat.  It looked ridiculous, but it was one-of-a-kind and memorable.  It wouldn’t take long for the hat to gain a reputation and, with it, the understanding that the guy wearing the hat was under Kumiko’s protection.

That night, as Kumiko was going to bed, Kyou pulled her into a private alcove.  “Like you expected, he got out while we were eating dinner.”

She sighed.  “Did he come back?”

Kyou grinned.  “Yep.  The townsfolk sent him home, soaking wet and pissed.”

Kumiko couldn’t help but smile at the image of Kudou as a snarling wet cat.

“I also explained his situation to him,” Kyou added.  “I think he was finally ready to hear what would happen to him if he successfully escaped.”

“Thank you,” Kumiko said, her smile softening into fondness.  “I’m sorry to bring so much trouble to our door.”

Kyou shrugged.  “It’s been a while since we had a new recruit.  Good to keep in practice.”

Kumiko just shook her head and wished him a goodnight.  She was tired and so very ready for bed.


End file.
